Pirates’ Riveiro pleased to have won ‘boring’ Swallows tie

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says the first half of their clash with Moroka Swallows FC was tactical and boring with a lot of restarts caused by their opponents to delay the match.

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Pirates beat Swallows 2-0 in the DStv Premiership Soweto derby tie at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday, thanks to a goal by Evidence Makgopa and an own-goal by Sipho Sibiya.

But, Riveiro wasn’t pleased with the play, stating that there were more action in midfield than in the final third for both teams to try and score.

“I think it was a very tactical first half, with a clear proposal trying to fight each other. Very slow freedom in the first half also, the opponents tried to control the rhythm by delaying the restarts, which is okay. But the first half was a bit boring, not many things happened. The actions were more in the middle of the field and not close to the boxes,” said the Bucs coach.

“So, I don’t remember many exciting moments from both teams, a couple of set-pieces for Swallows and an off-side goal. A couple of more actions behind our line from our side and we managed to score a goal before half-time which was important for obvious reasons.”

The Spaniard added it was difficult for his side to press Swallows higher since the referee was judging fouls whenever the opponent went down.

“We started the second half very slow again and not pressing as high as in the first half. We managed to do it (press high). But every attempt to press was a foul. I think we committed more fouls than we have done for the rest of the reason, or at least from the referee’s perspective,” Riveiro continued with his game analysis.

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“It’s difficult to deal with teams like Swallows who want to build from the back. You want to press high, but every time you press players in negative positions when you touch them and they fall it’s a foul. So, it is difficult to continue with the pressing. So, you have to decide if you continue or you give them a couple of meters.”