Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has reacted after his side lost 2-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday evening.
The Buccaneers were second best on the night after a brace from Colombian striker Brayan Leon gave Masandawana all three points at the FNB Stadium. A win for the Tshwane giants sees them close to gap to just three points.
Ouaddou admitted Pirates had the better chances in the first 20 minutes but poor finishing let them down.
“I think we had two halves, one where we wanted to be compact and to play on the transition and I think it worked,”Ouaddou told
“It worked because we recovered a lot of balls and we created the most effective chances, unfortunately we weren’t efficient in the first half.”
Ouaddou feels Pirates played well in the second half
The Buccaneers started well but were made to pay for squandering their chances early on. Two quick goals from Leon saw the visitors lead 2-0 going into half time
“On the other hand, Mamelodi Sundowns had few chances and they were more efficient than us and it’s really hard to come at halftime with 2-0 and I think the boys did very well in the second half”
“We managed to score early, unfortunately we pushed, we pushed but we didn’t manage to score this second goal.
Ouaddou believes Sundowns had the first half while Pirates dominate second half.
“But let’s say we still have games, nothing is lost and we have to play until the end.
“I think the approach is the second half because we’re losing 2-0 so we have to change something so we went to the press them a little bit high, something that of course the players knows because we have been doing that since the beginning of the season.
“And I think they did it well in the second half unfortunately we missed the first half,” the Moroccan coach added.
With 13 matches still left to play, Ouaddou will look to get Pirates back to winning ways with a big Soweto Derby coming next weekend.