Pirates ‘didn’t play to win’ against Sundowns

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes that had Bucs started their DStv Premiership game against Mamelodi Sundowns the way they finished it, the result would have been different.

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This comes after Pirates suffered a 1-0 to the defending league champions at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.

Riveiro’s charges failed to match Sundowns in terms of play in the first half, and spent much of the time losing the ball. That led to them conceding a penalty after Themba Zwane was brought down inside the box by Siphelo Baloni. The penalty shot was converted by Lucas Ribeiro.

The Buccaneers took control of game in the second half of the match, but they just could not find the equaliser.

“Two different halves, the first one fully controlled by the opponents. There was an aggressive pressing on our side and we were not capable of getting rid of that intense pressing. We were not comfortable on the ball in the first half we had some problems to progress and interpret the spaces,” said Riveiro after the match.

“We were losing the ball in areas that we should never lose the ball and they scored 1-0 going into half-time. But in the second half we showed a different face, and probably the results should be different. But it doesn’t matter so much. I think we didn’t play to win the game. We could have easily finished on 1-1, but still, it’s not good enough.”

Following the loss, the Spaniard says they have to do a deep analysis on the game to see what went wrong so that they can get back to their best.

“We have to do reflection about the game, especially myself in order to get the conclusions to continue in the best way from tomorrow (Thursday),” he added.

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The loss to the Brazilians saw the Sea Robbers register their second successive defeat after losing by the same score-line against Jwaneng Galaxy in the Caf Champions League tie played in Botswana last weekend.

Pirates will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they host Stellenbosch FC in the MTN8 semi-final second leg at Orlando Stadium on Sunday. The Sea Robbers beat Stellies 2-1 in the first leg.