Riveiro at a loss for words after Pirates lose to City

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro battled to explain how his dominant side lost their Betway Premiership match against Cape Town City.

A 74th-minute goal by Darwin Gonzalez earned the Citizens a 1-0 win over the Buccaneers at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday night.

READ MORE: Gonzalez nets winner as Cape Town City down Orlando Pirates

Pirates dominated the match from start to finish, but in the end, they walked away with nothing from the match after they failed to convert the chances they got from the game including a penalty. 

“It’s quite difficult to explain the final result. I think the difference between both teams was too big this time,” said Riveiro after the match against City.

“With all respect for the game of Cape Town City, it’s difficult to explain that we lost this game the way we did. But this is football, they managed to put one ball in the net, we didn’t put in a complete performance, we did everything to win the match, not much that you can do. So, to the next one.” added the Spaniard.

Prior to Gonzalez scoring the winner for City, Pirates were awarded a penalty by referee Skhumbuzo Gaza in the 69th minute, but Patrick Maswanganyi hit the post from the resultant spot kick. Riveiro described the miss as “bad luck”.

“It’s just pure bad luck in this case, did you see the way they scored?”

Despite the loss, Riveiro was happy with how his team performed on the night.

“It’s something not normal. Again, like I said, we were Orlando Pirates tonight, we played the football that we played before.

“There were other games we didn’t play at the level we played tonight where we got the result, but today we didn’t make it.”

Pirates will now change focus to the CAF Champions League where they face CR Belouizdad in a Group C clash at Orlando Stadium on Sunday.

ALSO READ: Nabi delighted with Chiefs character after comeback win

Victory in that game will all but secure the Buccaneers’ passage to the knockout round of the competition. 

Pirates currently lead the group with eight points after four games, followed by the defending champions Al-Ahly on seven points. Belouizdad are third with six points and Stade d’Abidjan are bottom of the group with one point.