Ouaddou pleased as Orlando Pirates edge Sekhukhune United in MTN8 semi-final

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says his side were fully prepared for Sekhukhune United’s approach after securing a 1-0 advantage in the first leg of their MTN8 semi-final.

Deon Hotto’s impressive first-half strike settled a closely contested encounter at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday afternoon, giving the Buccaneers a narrow lead to take into the return fixture.

Ouaddou said Sekhukhune United’s tactics had not caught Orlando Pirates by surprise and praised his players for maintaining their discipline and organisation throughout the match.

“Definitely, I think we were not surprised, we know this type of games and I think credit has to be given to our boys, they responded very well in terms of discipline, in terms organisation,” Ouaddou told SuperSport after the game.

The Orlando Pirates coach acknowledged that his team occasionally surrendered possession in dangerous areas, allowing their opponents opportunities to threaten, but he was satisfied with the overall performance and the spirit shown by the squad.

“Of course, at sometimes we lost the ball early, we gave them the opportunity to punish us but overall, I’m very happy about the team spirit of the boys.

“We came here to win to take this first victory, but I like told you we still have one second half. We’re going to rest the players and maybe in one week we will play the second-leg now we will focus for the league game now.”

The result gives Orlando Pirates an important advantage, although Ouaddou stressed that the tie remains unresolved with the second leg still to come.

Rather than adopting a defensive strategy to protect their goal, Ouaddou said his intention had been to make Sekhukhune United uncomfortable by pressing from the front and forcing mistakes.

He explained that Orlando Pirates were also prepared to adjust their shape if Sekhukhune United managed to bypass the first line of pressure. In that situation, the Buccaneers would fall into a compact mid-block before attempting to regain possession.

“Yes, you know when you training such a big club, you have to find the balance between entertainment and discipline and I didn’t want to come here and sit to protect our goal. Our target was to come there and make them the pressing.

“To push them to make mistakes or push them to play long and to recover the ball and the target as well if the first line of pressure was passed it was just to be compact mid-block and to wait to them.

“We knew that they have some weaknesses and we did well, we did well to use that weaknesses, but there is a second half.”

Ouaddou now expects his players to recover before shifting their attention to their next league fixture. The second leg of the MTN8 semi-final will be played in approximately one week, when Sekhukhune United will attempt to overturn the one-goal deficit and Orlando Pirates will seek to complete the job.