Pirates coach Riveiro expecting a very tight game against Chippa

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is expecting a different Chippa United side when the teams meet again in a DStv Premiership clash at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm.

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The Buccaneers beat the Chilli Boys 3-1 in a drama-filled Nedbank Cup semifinal clash at the Nelson Mandela Stadium last weekend.

A brace by Kabelo Dlamini and a goal from defender Tapelo Xoki were enough to hand Pirates a safe passage to the final of the competition where they’ll meet Mamelodi Sundowns at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga on 1 June.

The game between Chippa and Pirates was marred by an exchange of unsavoury words between the opposing benches after Chippa’s Eva Nga was shown a red card.

After the match, Chippa co-coach Kwanele Kopo accused his Pirates counterpart of provoking Nga and also said Riveiro used foul language towards his bench. Riveiro, however, denied this during the post-match interview.

All eyes will be on the two coaches to see how they react to each other when they meet again at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s clash, Riveiro said he was expecting a tight game against Chippa, adding that it will be decided by small margins.

“The way Chippa is going to approach [the game] is something that is not in my sight, it’s something the opponents will decide,” Riveiro told the media after the game in Gqeberha.

“But we were in a similar scenario a few weeks ago when we played AmaZulu in the quarter-final [of the Nedbank Cup] and three days later, we hosted them in Orlando and it was a really difficult game because after this 90 minutes, we know each other even better.

“So I’m sure it’s going to be a very tight game against Chippa, that is going to be decided by very small margins.”

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Kopo, whose side are currently 10th on the log with 32 points after 26 games, is unsure of what to expect when the sides meet on Wednesday.

“I don’t know how Wednesday is going to be. Only Mandla [Ncikazi, the Pirates assistant coach] shook hands after the match, the other coaches could not even look us in the face.

“Hopefully, we can remedy this. If we offended Pirates in any way, I would deeply apologise to the club and everyone and the coach [Jose Riveiro] himself,” said Kopo.