Ouaddou backs Radiopane and Mbuthuma to end Pirates’ striker concerns

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou praised Boitumelo Radiopane and Yanela Mbuthuma after both forwards scored in the Buccaneers’ 4-0 victory over Kruger United on Tuesday night.

The result at Mbombela Stadium extended Orlando Pirates’ unbeaten run in the Betway Premiership, with the visitors scoring four unanswered goals against the top-flight side.

Ouaddou was particularly pleased that Radiopane and Mbuthuma got on the scoresheet, saying their goals could provide an important boost to the two strikers’ confidence.

“You know, there are some games where strangely you have a lot, a lot of opportunities, lot of chance to score and you don’t score,” Ouaddou told SuperSport after the game,

“It’s a game that we didn’t have a lot of chances, but we were very efficient and I’m very happy for these boys you know, it will give them trust, confidence.

“I’m really happy about the goals from them.”

The French-Moroccan coach acknowledged that Orlando Pirates struggled to impose themselves during the opening 45 minutes, particularly in the physical contest.

Kruger United applied pressure high up the pitch and, according to Ouaddou, were more aggressive in the first half. He said his players had been warned to find space behind the opposition’s back four in order to escape that pressure, but failed to do so.

“You know, sometimes we didn’t play like we want but at least we come with the result we want. I think the first half the boys didn’t start the game exactly like we wanted. I think we were dominated in the physical area, we didn’t manage to get any answer in that area they were more aggressive than us,” Ouaddou said.

“They came to press us, we knew that they were coming to press, I said to the guys maybe the first 15 minutes to escape this pressure, it can be interesting to look for the second zone behind the back-four because they’re leaving space, things that we never did in the first half to be honest.

Orlando Pirates improved after the interval but still found it difficult to control the game in the manner Ouaddou wanted. He credited Kruger United for their performance while stressing that securing the three points was the priority.

“We came back slightly better, slightly better, but we didn’t manage to really impose the game we want credit has to be given to Kruger Football Club, so for us the most important let’s say it’s these three points, we came here knowing it won’t easy.

Ouaddou also suggested that the emphatic scoreline should not obscure the difficulty of the match. He expects Kruger United’s intensity to make it challenging for other teams to achieve a similar result at Mbombela Stadium.

“I don’t think many teams are going to be able to score four goals here because they were very aggressive so let’s be happy, let’s correct, let’s correct the things we have to collect, but it’s not easy because when you give time to everybody you try to rotate as well so let’s be happy,” he added.