Pirates edge Sekhukhune to give ‘happy coach’ Ouaddou MTN8 advantage

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou praised his players’ discipline, organisation and team spirit after their 1-0 victory away to Sekhukhune United in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final.

Deon Hotto’s goal shortly before half-time gave the Buccaneers a crucial advantage and an away goal ahead of next Saturday’s second leg at the Orlando Amstel Arena.

Pirates had made clear that their priority was to return from the opening match with a win. However, before they can complete the tie, they must face Sekhukhune again in the Betway Premiership on Tuesday.

The result was secured by veteran Hotto, whose strike put Ouaddou’s side in front before the interval. The Orlando Pirates coach said his players dealt well with the demands of a tightly contested cup 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 TV post-match.

“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,” he added.

Ouaddou said the plan had never been to sit deep and simply protect the lead. Instead, Pirates attempted to press Sekhukhune United high up the pitch, force errors and exploit weaknesses in the home side’s game.

The coach acknowledged that his team occasionally lost control of the ball in dangerous areas, but felt the overall strategy had been effective.

“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.

“Ja, it worked and sometimes in this kind of matches you need to play with the heart. I always say that cup matches it’s more tactic and technique.

“But you need this in transact motivation and today the boys they gave this reaction and when they work like that, when they gave all for the fans, for this fantastic fans here, me I’m a happy coach because we score 1-0 clean-sheet, it’s what I like,” concluded the former Marumo Gallants coach.

Although the clean sheet and narrow victory give Pirates the upper hand, Ouaddou stressed that the tie remains unresolved with another 90 minutes to play next weekend.

The Buccaneers will first turn their attention to their league meeting with Sekhukhune United on Tuesday before preparing for the MTN8 semi-final return leg at home. By winning the first match, Pirates secured the result they wanted from their away fixture, but must now protect that advantage to reach the final.