Orlando Pirates were humbled on Saturday afternoon by Mamelodi Sundowns in the race for the Premier Soccer League title.
The first half ended 2-0 in favour of Masandawana thanks to strikes from Grant Kekana and Lucas Ribeiro. After the break, Deon Hotto pulled one back for the Sea Robbers to give their fans hope of a comeback. However, Ribeiro struck his second before setting up Teboho Mokoena for Downs' fourth.
It was an unexpected result for the Buccaneers who had, prior to the game, lost just two games in the league by a slim margin.
Coach Jose Riveiro has since explained why his team looked out of place, and ended up soaking in four.
‘The game was far from us' – Riveiro
“We are disappointed with the result obviously; it was difficult to find ourselves today in this environment. In both phases in attacking and defending we were not comfortable at all in the first half,” Riveiro told the media after the game.
“Two accidents put the game in a difficult place for us with 2-0, we tried in the second half to get close, I think we managed to be better than Sundowns in the second period. After the 2-1 I think the game was closer to us than to them but they managed to find the net on the first occasion.
“From that moment the game was far from us,” the Spaniard concluded.
The next game for the Buccaneers will be on Saturday in the Nedbank Cup's Round of 16 against Baroka.
