Vincent Pule of Orlando Pirates (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Orlando Pirates winger Vincent Pule wants everyone at the club to lift their heads up following their defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns last weekend.
“I think it was a tough game, but tactical. We pushed hard and we got chances, I think we should have scored one or two,” said the Pirates man.
“We’ve been working on our set pieces, unfortunately, we conceded through a set piece. I think we played better in the second half and we kept pushing, but we couldn’t get a goal,” Pule told Bucs media.
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The Buccaneers suffered their first loss this campaign when the sides met in a DStv Premiership tie which ended 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Pule described the game as tactical and admits that it was a tough encounter which however Pirates managed to create goal-scoring chances, but they were not utilised.
“There are lots of positives, we just have to keep our heads up and keep pushing, it was a very difficult game, unfortunately, we lost.”
Meanwhile, Bucs coach Josef Zinnbauer explained why he opted to take out right-back Wayde Jooste and brought in midfielder Siphesihle Ndlovu in that game.
“We knew that we needed a goal and we brought Ndlovu in. He is a flexible player he can play in the central midfield, he can play on position eight or as number six. He can also play on the side. That was the reason we changed the player,” the Bucs coach explained.
Before this tie, Bucs had enjoyed a good run against Downs, winning two of their last five encounters with three fixtures ending in draws.
The result sees the Bucs remain in position five after eight games with 13 points. Sundowns, on the other hand, managed to extend their lead at the top of league standings to 21 points from nine games.
The teams will continue with their league campaign this coming weekend as Downs travel to Limpopo for a clash with Baroka FC on Saturday. On Sunday, the Buccaneers return to action with a meeting against newly-promoted side Swallows FC at Orlando Stadium.
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