Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro was displeased with his team’s start to Saturday’s DStv Premiership clash against TS Galaxy but ultimately pleased with the way they weathered an early storm and went on to win the match 1-0.
Deon Hotto hit home a freekick in the 25th minute to ensure Pirates moved up two places in the standings to fifth but not before goalkeeper Melusi Buthelezi had made several good stops to deny the Rockets an early goal.
“Again, it was not a good beginning of the game, a bit loose and there were two clear chances to score for the opponent, coming from our own mistakes,” said Riveiro after a second leagued win this week, following Tuesday’s 2-0 home triumph over Moroka Swallows.
“We're lucky that (goalkeeper) Melusi (Buthelezi) did a good job in the last seconds but that was not the right way to start.
“But little by little I think we took fully control. The opponent played with a a low block which made it difficult to find the spaces, they’re a difficult team to break down but we created enough in the first half. We were more comfortable after the goal, creating more and more spaces.”
Pirates lost Vincent Pule to concussion early on in the game but his replacement Karim Kimvuidi proved to be a handful. “It was not something that we were planning to do, obviously, but he created uncertainty for the opponent and immediately started to create problems. We had a beautiful opportunity to double the lead with the pass from Karim to Rele (Relebohile Mofokeng).”
Pirates led at the break and the coach felt they were never really under threat after that.
“The second half happens are we expected with a little bit more of space, with (Samir) Nurkovic coming onto the field but I think we managed quite well to keep him far from the box. We did have some problems in pressing but I think we managed to correct it and we had good chances in the second half.
“I didn't feel that the game was under threat. There was an action that they could connect in the box but nothing else. It’s obviously an important three points, so I’m really happy for the boys because it's not happening for nothing, they are fighting a lot and now we are getting some reward,” Riveiro added.