Riveiro praises ‘brave’ Maswanganyi as Nabi concedes defeat

Following Orlando Pirates’ hard-fought 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby. Bucs coach Jose Riveiro has hailed Patrick Maswanganyi for his bravery and for always putting himself in the line of fire.

This comes after Maswanganyi scored the winner through the penalty spot at a packed FNB Stadium on Saturday to give the Buccaneers the three points and the bragging rights.

WATCH: Maswanganyi’s cheeky penalty against Chiefs

With the teams locked at 0-0 and the game looking likely to be a draw, Pirates were awarded a penalty by referee Masixole Bambiso  in the 93rd minute after Njabulo Blom was adjudged to have fouled Relebohile Mofokeng inside the box.

Maswanganyi, who had come under a lot of criticism from the Pirates fans after missing a penalty against Cape Town City last month, took the ball away from Evidence Makgopa. He then did the unbelievable and scored with a cheeky Panenka.

Speaking to the media after the game, Riveiro revealed that he knew that Maswanganyi would do exactly what he did before he did it.  

“I knew, let’s just leave it there, I knew. I knew that if something like this happens, he’s going to take the ball,” said Riveiro.

“As much as people criticise Patrick. But for me, from the coaching perspective, give me any player that always wants to be on the ball in situations like that, in games like today and when things are not going well.

“He always wants the ball. And he’s making mistakes because he’s putting himself on the line all the time. So, we’re blessed to have a player like him around.

“As much as sometimes he’s doing things that are not easy to understand, I want him to be himself on the field because that’s the way we can get the best part of Patrick in each and every game. And I think today he showed that he has that kind of personality to ask for those moments when the situation is crucial and critical and not easy to take.

“I’m happy for him after what happened in Cape Town to get a responsibility today in a scenario like this one in the 94th minute. So, yeah, fantastic mentality,” added Riveiro.

Nabi takes positives from Soweto derby defeat

Meanwhile, Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi said even though the penalty decision was “light”, he has accepted the result and is taking the positives from it.

“For the penalty, I was not in a good position to see and decide but my video staff confirmed it was very light. I don’t want an excuse, we lost this game and it is not good.

“We lost three points but we have another opportunity in the other derby of the season.”

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Despite the setback, Nabi is happy with the team’s progress so far this season.

“I am happy with the progress of my team, over the past five to six months the team has progressed with this project. Mentality has changed in the team when you compare it to last season.”