Josef Zinnbauer felt his Orlando Pirates had enough chances to win the game in the 90 minutes as they slipped to a 4-3 Carling Black Label Cup penalty shootout defeat to Kaizer Chiefs after the teams played to a 0-0 draw at an empty FNB Stadium on Sunday.
Thembinkosi Lorch in particular had a number of good opportunities, most of his own making, but he was thwarted by Itumeleng Khune in the AmaKhosi goal, who had an excellent game.
"It was a good game from both teams," Zinnbauer said. "We got good information. I think we had good opportunities to score, especially in the second half. He [Lorch] has to score and then I think the game is done.
"But then we had a good save from [Pirates goalkeeper Richard] Ofori. To lose in penalties is always difficult. It's a final. You have to win the final but I think the performance was good for this moment. It was a good performance from both teams."
Ofori saved from Daniel Cardoso when Chiefs were awarded a penalty in the second half after the ball struck the hand of Pirates defender Ntsikelelo Nyauza.
"Nyauza did not make a mistake. It was in the midfield we made a mistake,” Zinnbauer said. “It was too easy, we lost the ball and we got overloaded and then our transition to defend was too slow. The mistake started in the midfield, not in the box.
"We had good build-up. We had better chances than Chiefs. It was a good performance. We needed the goal. This is always the problem in football.
"At the moment we have a good mood in the team. We are finding more and more structure. It was good to see us with the ball. Not our best, but it's normal for this time."
Pirates are set to start their season on the weekend of 13-15 August with a MTN8 quarterfinal against SuperSport United.