Pirates captain Jele happy to have won ‘difficult’ game against Saoura.

Orlando Pirates looked comfortable for most of their 2-0 win over JS Saoura in their opening Group B Caf Confederation Cup encounter at Orlando Stadium on Sunday, but captain Happy Jele insisted the game was tougher than it looked.

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Pirates had the upper hand from the start, with the home side looking dangerous whenever they were on attack, beating Saoura from Algeria for speed.

Jele scored the opening goal just three minutes into the match, while Bandile Shandu doubled the lead in the 66th minute as Pirates walked away with maximum points.

“I think we fought. It was a difficult game, the opponents were very good – but we did our homework and analysed them during the week. We capitalised on the chances that we got. We knew that in the set pieces, they are very shaky so the first chance that we got, we scored with a set piece, which is good. What we practiced, we implemented today,” said the Buccaneer skipper after the match.

“We fought until the last minute … we told ourselves that second half we want to get another goal, so that we settle the game properly, and to play our normal football, and that is what we did. Shandu scored the second goal and we are happy with that.”

The victory against the Algerians saw Pirates register their second victory this year, with the club having booked their spot in the Nedbank Cup last 16 after beating AmaZulu 1-0.

With the two wins, the Soweto based club must be high in confidence ahead of another important fixture against Golden Arrows in a DStv Premiership clash at home on Wednesday.

This will be Bucs first league of the year – the club went into the break sitting in position two on the league standings with 30 points after 19 games, 17 points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, with the Pretoria side having collected 47 points from 20 games.