Orlando Pirates tactician Jose Riveiro has highlighted the importance of his outfit victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby.
Pirates secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over their opponent at the FNB Stadium on Saturday. Patrick Maswanganyi converted perfectly from the spot to snatch maximum points for his outfit in the South African top-flight.
The win reduces the gap between Pirates and log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, down to three points.
However, the Spanish gaffer has expressed that it is important for his outfit not to give away any points as the battle for the league title continues.
“Any team that wants to be a league contender in PSL must understand that you cannot give away so many points. Even though we’re playing FNB, this is a home game for us. So, the home games are going to play a very important role in that race,” Riveiro said.
“It’s a massive victory today plus all the emotional components and confidence and energy and all of these things but again, we are going to Polokwane on Wednesday and the price is the same, its three points, massive.”
“Even though, I think the result is fair, it’s a reflection of both performances in my opinion. It was not a 5-0 performance but I think that Pirates was better on the day. It’s a 0-0 game, the game should have finished 0-0,” he added.
“So, without that penalty, which I didn’t see the penalty yet but from the bench it looked like two penalties, from the defender and the goalkeeper but anyway. If we want to call ourselves league contenders in South Africa, in the PSL, you know that you have to go over 70 points perhaps 72.
Pirates are now nine points clear of the fifth-placed Chiefs, who have played three games more than them, a clear sign of the gap between the two teams.
The Spanish trainer has now won four Soweto Derbies back-to-back.
