Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg resulted in Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro declaring that his team did not deserve to lose the Soweto derby.
Yusuf Maart scored a spectacular goal in the second half to give the Chiefs the victory over their arch rivals, the Pirates.
The Buccaneers were dragged back to earth with a loss to Amakhosi following two meetings in which they scored five goals and allowed none.
The coach of the Sea Robbers, who was managing his first Soweto derby, appeared furious while speaking to SuperSport TV after the game, believing that his team did not deserve to lose on the basis of play.
“The game was really slow. “The game was played at a pace that we did not anticipate from our opponent… it was actually rather monotonous,” Riveiro stated.
“Chiefs gave us room and defended in large numbers.
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We did not deserve to lose today’s game, he stated.
Both teams had phases of dominance during the play, but their accuracy in a single instance led to their goal.
In recent weeks, the men of Riveiro have received much recognition for their well-organized and dominant style of play, which has won them many admirers.
Pirates appeared to settle into the game better by controlling the majority of possession, but they were guilty of leaving space behind their defense for Chiefs to exploit.
Riveiro took responsibility for his team’s lackluster start to the match and admitted that he and his teammates had a lot of work to do to avoid a repeat performance in the forthcoming matches, especially the MTN8 final against AmaZulu next weekend.
“When you lose, it’s natural to find a variety of factors that contributed to the outcome, but it’s my obligation to determine why our initial game plan didn’t work, so we can rectify it next time,” the Pirates head coach stated.