Pirates&#8217; Ouaddou &#8211; &#8216;We will fight until the end&#8217;

‘We are going to keep pushing,’ added the Pirates head coach.

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has promised that his side will battle Mamelodi Sundowns right to the wire for the Betway Premiership title.

Pirates in the final straight

Pirates have five games left to play in their league season, starting with Sunday’s Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium.

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A comfortable 3-0 victory over AmaZulu at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday moved the Buccaneers two points clear at the top of the table.

Sundowns, however, have two games in hand on Pirates, and the eight-time reigning champions are in seemingly unstoppable form.

“I told them (the players) before this (AmaZulu) game that we have six finals, there are 18 points on the table so we will fight until the end,” said Ouaddou, after goals from Yanela Mbuthuma, Oswin Appollis and Relebohile Mofokeng had sunk a toothless Usuthu.

Mbuthuma headed Pirates into an early lead before a stunning strike from Appollis doubled the Buccaneers’ lead on the stroke of half time.

Relebohile Mofokeng then hit double figures for the season in the Premiership with a superb long-range curler in the second half. Mofokeng also hit the bar with a penalty and Pirates could easily have won by more goals.

‘I made some adjustments’

“We managed to score early and to come in at half time 2-0 up,” added Ouaddou.

“I made some adjustments because I thought even though we had scored two goals we didn’t have full control in the midfield. We also bought on impact players in the second half to give us more control.

“I am very happy for the boys, but it could have been 7-0 so we have to keep going. I think it was a good afternoon for us just before the derby. It gives a lot of confidence to the boys.

“We are going to keep pushing,” he continued.

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“I like the team spirit, I see on the pitch we are fighting … AmaZulu are one of the best teams in South Africa and we managed to have control today.”