‘Frustrated’ Josef Zinnbauer refuses to blame Thembinkosi Lorch

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer cast a frustrated figure following his team’s 2-0 loss to Golden Arrows on Tuesday but still refused to blame Thembinkosi Lorch for the defeat.

At 1-0, the Sea Robbers were awarded a penalty which could have changed the complexion but Thembinkosi Lorch failed to equalize as he blazed his attempt over the crossbar.

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However, Josef Zinnbauer refused to be critical of the attacker, saying there was no pressure for Lorch to take the penalty before adding that his charges were not fortunate enough in front of goal.

“It’s not a pressure for him. He’s an experienced player. He scored in the MTN8 the penalty and now it’s football, you need luck in this game. We had 20 minutes more, we couldn’t score,” Zinnbauer told SuperSportTV.

“We have some games you don’t have the first opportunity to score, you have the penalty and you don’t score, that is not enough for us. I’m very disappointed, I’m frustrated,” he added.

Nonetheless, Josef Zinnbauer believes his players did all they could to at least get a point away from home but admits Pirates lost the match in the first-half.

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“If you make a mistake then you get a goal, these players it’s not their intention, it’s a game you have to win, they fight, they run, they do what they can.

“We lost the game in the first-half. We had opportunities to score,” continued Zinnbauer.

“Lorch is a top player, normally he scores but today it was not possible, all the players are frustrated. You saw after the game the heads go down.

“They know they had opportunities, we did not play the best game but we can make a draw or maybe more but now it’s important we take our heads up and start again,” concluded Zinnbauer.