Saying their performances in the past two league Soweto derbies were “ugly”, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes the display of his charges, when they beat Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 at FNB Stadium over the weekend, was something special compared to the previous derbies.
It was Riveiro’s fourth Soweto derby across all competitions. The Spaniard lost both league fixtures against Chiefs last season, before winning in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals en route to lifting the trophy. Evidence Makgopa’s 20th-minute tap-in sealed the deal for the Sea Robbers on Saturday.
“These games are like finals, you can’t expect to play beautiful football here. Maybe if we managed to score a second goal then you could have seen something else [in terms of performance] but in the 1-0, 0-0 game like in the previous derbies, I think today was much better,” Riveiro said.
“The previous derbies we played in the league were ugly and we weren’t ourselves. I think today, from the beginning we tried to be ourselves, and we weren’t shy. Probably it’s because we are getting more experience in this type of games and the players now feel more comfortable.”
Riveiro also reserved a special praise for the goal-scorer, Makgopa, who had been booed by own fans in the previous games. “Evidence is doing a very good job. I can’t speak much about him because he is speaking for himself on the field of play. People have to see everything he does, not only when he is scoring the goals,” Riveiro said.
“He has amazing numbers in every game, but we look at him when he is scoring. It’s normal [because] he’s a striker, but he has been doing an excellent job for the team so far. He’s getting experience and this goal is gonna help him a lot for the future. Scoring in the derby will see his name in the history books forever.”
Riveiro savours moment after ending Chiefs dominance
Pirates coach singles out match winner Makgopa for praise
Image: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
Saying their performances in the past two league Soweto derbies were “ugly”, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes the display of his charges, when they beat Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 at FNB Stadium over the weekend, was something special compared to the previous derbies.
It was Riveiro’s fourth Soweto derby across all competitions. The Spaniard lost both league fixtures against Chiefs last season, before winning in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals en route to lifting the trophy. Evidence Makgopa’s 20th-minute tap-in sealed the deal for the Sea Robbers on Saturday.
“These games are like finals, you can’t expect to play beautiful football here. Maybe if we managed to score a second goal then you could have seen something else [in terms of performance] but in the 1-0, 0-0 game like in the previous derbies, I think today was much better,” Riveiro said.
“The previous derbies we played in the league were ugly and we weren’t ourselves. I think today, from the beginning we tried to be ourselves, and we weren’t shy. Probably it’s because we are getting more experience in this type of games and the players now feel more comfortable.”
Riveiro also reserved a special praise for the goal-scorer, Makgopa, who had been booed by own fans in the previous games. “Evidence is doing a very good job. I can’t speak much about him because he is speaking for himself on the field of play. People have to see everything he does, not only when he is scoring the goals,” Riveiro said.
“He has amazing numbers in every game, but we look at him when he is scoring. It’s normal [because] he’s a striker, but he has been doing an excellent job for the team so far. He’s getting experience and this goal is gonna help him a lot for the future. Scoring in the derby will see his name in the history books forever.”
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