Riveiro unhappy with Pirates display in win over Venda Academy

Jose Riveiro says things did not go according to plan in their slender Nedbank Cup win over a stubborn Venda Football Academy (VFA) outfit at the Orlando Stadium last Saturday.

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Riveiro’s charges were made to sweat by the Motsepe Foundation Championship side and they needed extra-time to win the tie 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup.

Riveiro believes they did things difficult for themselves by not taking the many chances they got in the game.

“Not a game we wanted to play the way we planned. In the first period, we dominated, but something happened that we worked on and mentioned during the week that we wanted to avoid. When you are facing a low block you start not doing simple things when you are facing that type of approach. Well, it was not even an approach, it was not intentional from the opponents, but we were quite fluent in their half,” said Riveiro after the game.

“We managed to get the lead and if I am not mistaken we also got a clear opportunity, I am not sure if it was before or after (the goal). We also had many situations in set-pieces, many corner-kicks in the first half. But still, they also got a clear chance and Sipho Chaine had to show a good level of concentration.”

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“We didn’t use the change of approach of the opponents in the second half, they started pressing a bit higher and we didn’t expose the spaces behind. And due to that, we conceded a goal… accidentally. And after that, it was not the scenario we were looking for and it was very difficult to overcome playing at home with nerves and stress around the game. Because no one suspected that we would be in that situation, us (coaches), players and fans,” concluded Riveiro.