Riveiro says Bucs dominated Sundowns despite losing

Despite the loss, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes his charges dominated their clash against Mamelodi Sundowns and they could have easily had they taken their chances.

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The Buccaneers were playing host to the Brazilians, but the home side unfortunately suffered a 1-0 defeat at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday, thanks to an early goal by Cassius Mailula in the sixth minute of the game.

Riveiro says his side had great opportunities in the second half to get back into the game, which they failed to convert and admits they were punished because of a mistake at the back.

“It was a very intense game from the beginning to the end with two good teams and two similar plans to approach the game,” said Riveiro.

“The game changed a bit quickly after they took the lead. We made a mistake in one of our build ups and they really punished us with the first mistake,” said the Bucs coach.

“But I think the game was absolutely dominated by Orlando Pirates in every scenario, even before half time.

“Everybody is asking me about the second half, but I think we also dominated the (first half) situation quite well and we had our chances especially with set pieces, we were very close to finalising (scoring) one or two times in free kicks, but we were not lucky in those specific situations.”

The Buccaneers did have some good chances from Monnapule Saleng’s se pieces, and Riveiro continued to emphasise that that’s where they could have hurt their visitors. But he added that he is not happy with the way his side ended their game as they seemed to be under pressure.

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“I think Sundowns started the first five minutes of the second half well, but after that I think the game was for us. But we couldn’t capitalise on the chances we created, especially from 55 to 70 minutes in the second half. I am not happy with the end of the game, we should still be more organised in the last part of the match.”