Ernst Middendorp, coach of Kaizer Chiefs with Josef Zinnbauer, coach of Orlando Pirates ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
The Pirates coach believes his team had the opportunity to win the game had they utilised their goal-scoring opportunities, but was proud of the performance of the team.
“Very tough game, Kaizer Chiefs have a very good team and good quality, we saw this today. But, it’s not that we have a chance in this match. We were not so much in the game in the first 15 minutes, we tested the opponents but they came a bit better as the game progressed and the game changed. We had a big chance to score, Luvuyo Memela gave the ball back to Gabadinho Mhango, and Mhango had a chance. But we saw in the game he didn’t use the chance,” said Zinnbauer.
“The opponents had good pressing, good transition, counter attack and they scored the goal. We did our best in the first half to score and it was the same thing in the second half. We came out from the dressing room in the second half with good self-confidence and good plan. We had a lot of chances but when you don’t score you won’t win. But the performance of my team was good in this game. I know you need goals to have a chance to win a game, but we did all that we can in the last minute but it was not enough. We didn’t have the luck we needed to win against Kaizer Chiefs.”
The loss to Amakhosi was Zinnbauer’s first in the League since he started his job as Bucs coach with a win against Black Leopards last year before the Christmas break.
Pirates are now nine points behind Chiefs in the race for the championship with Amakhosi topping the log with 48 points, while Bucs are on 39.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
