Despite advancing to the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup, Orlando Pirates failed to impress as Venda FC proved to be a tough task. On paper Orlando Pirates should have bypassed the first-division side Venda FC, however, that was not the case.
Pirates are third on the Dstv Premiership log, while Venda FC is third from the bottom of the Motsepe Foundation League. Venda FC showed determination against the Buccaneers, as they were playing against one of the best clubs in the country. The contest was motivation enough for the Venda FC players and the club’s coach, Joel Masutha will not faulter his players because of the amazing performance they displayed on the pitch.
However, Pirates coach, Jose Riveiro would be the disappointed of the two. Pirates are known for their blistering and counter-attack football, however, that was far from it. Buccaneer coach Riveiro admitted that his players could have done better, but that was not the case on the day.
“ I think we managed the first half quite okay in terms of control even though we could not compete in a couple of actions where the opponent could have capitalized. We were not at our level best in the last meters, we did not understand so well how to deal with the low block. We were always off by an extra pass and not really being generals in our running into the spaces.
“Same thing in the second half but in a different scenario, they started to press higher, and we did not understand so well how to explore those spaces behind due to that one mistake we conceded the equalizer, and it became difficult because we got a bit nervous and panicked because we needed a goal, we did not want to go to the penalty shootout because anything could have happened but we tried until the end and sometimes you need these type of games in the season to grow as a group and understand that nothing comes easy”, Riveiro said post-match on Saturday.
Coach Riveiro would have expected Monnapule Saleng to be one of his charges in front of goal, however, that was not the case as Saleng was kept quiet for most of the game. Saleng has been a threat for Pirates for the past months, walking away with the player f the match accolades 9 times this season. But against Venda FC Saleng had one shot in total with a 4.4 rating stat after the game.
Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo was another player that was not in his best element against the team from Venda. Ndlondlo is known for his work rate, high pass, and consistent runs behind the defenders, however, the defense of Venda FC had him on the leash and under control. The Pirates midfielder could not play well next to the player of the match Miguel Timm. Ndlondlo was caught off the back foot in the game, losing crucial balls in the middle of the park and that allowed Venda FC room to counterattack the defensive block of Pirates.
The partnership of Thembinkosi Lorch, Deon Hotto, and Kabelo Dlamini on another day could have been deadly but against Venda FC was kept at bay. Despite Lorch scoring the winning goal, his overall performance was poor. Hotto and Dlamini are known for their attacking ability to cause mayhem against any defenders who were off the bar against Venda FC. Hotto caused a mistake that allowed Venda FC to find an equalizer courtesy of Edmore Chirambadare's goal in the second half.
Coach Riveiro has said that these games are the type of games that the club needed to grow and develop a better fighting spirit going forward. Pirates will surely use this game as a learning cover going into their next figures.
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