Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro was relieved to emerge from his side’s ‘tactical’ DStv Premiership tie with Swallows with all three points.
Evidence Makgopa broke the deadlock at the Orlando Stadium on 39 minutes ahead of a Sipho Sibiya own-goal with 72 minutes of the match played for a 2-0 win.
It was a match with limited goalscoring opportunities, as Bucs managed just two shots on target, compared to zero from the Dube Birds.
The result lifted Pirates one place and one point above Swallows into six place on the DStv Premiership standings with 19 points from 12 games.
Reflecting on the game, Riveiro said in the Citizen that Swallows did what ever they could to disrupt the flow of play.
Evidence Makgopa gives Orlando Pirates the lead at the break 👏
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The second half is coming up next ⏭
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He explained: “I think it was a very tactical first half, with a clear proposal trying to fight each other. Very slow freedom in the first half also, the opponents tried to control the rhythm by delaying the restarts, which is okay. But the first half was a bit boring, not many things happened. The actions were more in the middle of the field and not close to the boxes.
“We started the second half very slow again and not pressing as high as in the first half. We managed to do it (press high). But every attempt to press was a foul. I think we committed more fouls than we have done for the rest of the reason, or at least from the referee’s perspective.”
Riveiro added: “It’s difficult to deal with teams like Swallows who want to build from the back. You want to press high, but every time you press players in negative positions when you touch them and they fall it’s a foul. So, it is difficult to continue with the pressing. So, you have to decide if you continue or you give them a couple of meters.”
