Winning the Soweto derby on Saturday was more than just tactics and technique but rather came down to playing with heart, said victorious Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou.
Pirates romped to any easy 3-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at Soccer City on Saturday to reclaim top place in the Betway Premiership.
“We made a game plan,” said Ouaddou after the match, “but today, it was more than tactics, it's more than technique. This game you have to play with the heart. You have to play it with spirit.
“And today, that's what the players did and I hope they will continue to do so until the end of the season.”
Pirates had lost their previous league game to Mamelodi Sundowns and also been knocked out of the Nedbank Cup by second tier club Casric Stars in their last two fixtures.
But on Saturday they were vastly superior to Chiefs and romped to an easy win, promoting the question what changes Ouaddou had made over the days before the derby to get his team back up to speed.
“The fighting spirit of our team has been there for a while since the beginning of the season. And the aim to play some quality football as well is still there.,” he answered.
“What changed today is the efficiency in the area of truth. It means that in the finishing, we were spot on. I have to give credit to our boys.
“I’m a really happy. I'm proud of my boys today. That is that kind of performance that I'm expecting from them, high level and playing with high ambition,” the Pirates coach said
“We wanted to score early. And they did it. We played against very good team, but the fact that we scored earlier, we put them under pressure in the first half and it helped us to develop our game.
“I can say that for me, it's really a reference game. We have to build on that until the end of the season,” Ouaddou added.