JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 03: Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro during the DStv Premiership match between Swallows FC and Orlando Pirates at Dobsonville Stadium on March 03, 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says he’s satisfied with the response from his players against Swallows following a loss to Kaizer Chiefs last weekend.
Monnapule Saleng scored a hat-trick against his former side as Pirates got back to winning ways in the DStv Premiership on Friday evening.
Riveiro says they were desperate to redeem themselves after a last-gasp loss to Chiefs.
Read | Hat-trick hero Saleng fires Bucs back to winning ways
“We had a difficult week after our last game, we were not happy with our performance, the picture that we showed the team, it was not us,” Riveiro said on SuperSport TV.
“Like I said before the game we were really looking for a game immediately to show the football that we want to play, we have the capacity to play.
“We showed many times this season but we want to be more consistent, so yeah, so glad to see the team, especially the aggression we showed in the first half in the moments where we lost the ball, the amount of times we managed to control the game in their half. So, really satisfied with today’s performance.”
Riveiro was asked for his view on the performance of Saleng, who scored a hat-trick but the Spanish coach did not want to single out individuals and instead praised the whole team.
“We have a fantastic team full of good talent. I cannot even highlight somebody today, I think everybody was in a very good level from the centre-backs, they had a difficult task today to defend these long balls,” he said.
“The work of the central midfielders to collect those second balls and give us continuity. “
“They gave us the capacity to show our talent in front of them, all of our players in attack today. (Thembinkosi) Lorch, ‘Dzvuka’ (Dzvukamanja), ‘KB’ (Kabelo Dlamini) and of course Monnapule were in a very good level.”
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