SOWETO – Orlando Pirates climbed to the top of the DStv Premiership standings after beating Marumo Gallants FC 1-0 on Wednesday night at Orlando Stadium.
The rejuvenated Buccaneers had a perfect start after a crossfield to the right of the area ricocheted off the post and came back into play before Paseka Mako charged and notched into an empty net three minutes into the match.
More goals were expected in the match, especially for the Buccaneers, with Vincent Pule, Zakhele Lepasa and Bandile Shandu delivering penetrating runs in the final third that forced Marumo to sit deep as the game ended 1-0.
After the match, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro heaved a sigh of relief as he explained why his team was unable to dominate possession against Marumo Gallants.
“We knew the capacity of Marumo to hold the ball, to keep the possession, we couldn’t today, that’s a fact,” Riveiro told SuperSport TV.
“We couldn’t dominate the game through possession, it’s a lot of events, recently a lot of games, it’s difficult to keep the same level in every game.
“Today it was impossible, just be better defending as we were doing in the recent games, be solid even though they have the possession.
“They didn’t create a single chance maybe sometimes around set-pieces but nothing really concrete and it was a pity we couldn’t consolidate the advantage in one of our transitions,” he added.
