How did Sundowns beat Pirates? Ouaddou underlines Bucs’ undoing

Orlando Pirates were undone by the defending Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday night at the FNB Stadium.

The Buccaneers started the game strongly, creating big chances, but the likes of Yanela Mbuthuma, Deon Hotto, and Patrick Maswanganyi just couldn’t beat the inspired Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams in goal. The custodian pulled some top saves that kept Masandawana in the game.

Williams’ saves proved critical as Brayan Leon’s quick brace, in the 36th and 40th minutes, put the Brazilians in the driving seat. In the 47th minute, Patrick Maswanganyi pulled one for the hosts, but another goal was not coming forth, and it ended in favour of the visitors.

Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has now pointed out where it went wrong for his team who had gone 14 games without tasting defeat in the Premier Soccer League before the recent loss.

We pushed, pushed but…

“I think we have [a game of] two halves. One where we wanted to be compact and to play in the transition; I think it worked because we had a lot of the ball and we created the most effective chances,” Ouaddou told the media.

“Unfortunately we were not efficient in the first half. On the other hand, Mamelodi Sundowns had a few chances and they were more efficient than us. “It’s very hard to come into half-time with 2-0, but I think the boys did well in the second half. We managed to score early. We pushed, we pushed but we didn’t manage to score the second goal.

“I can say that Mamelodi Sundowns had the first half, Pirates had the second half but without scoring the second goal, so we are a bit disappointed. We still have games, nothing is lost but we have to play till the end,” he concluded.

The next Premier Soccer League assignment will be the highly anticpated Soweto derby against old rivals Kaizer Chiefs.