Pirates coach explains losing Pule and Kimvuidi’s impact

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro was pleased with his side’w 1-0 win over TS Galaxy despite losing Vincent Pule early on.

The 30-year-old had a concussion early on in the game and was replaced by Karim Kimvuidi.

Kimvuidi’s introduction made a difference and Galaxy players failed to defend against the Bucs star.

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Pirates grab another win to move fifthon the log

“It was not something that we were planning to do, obviously, but he created uncertainty for the opponent and immediately started to create problems. We had a beautiful opportunity to double the lead with the pass from Karim to Rele (Relebohile Mofokeng),” said Riveiro after the match.

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Deon Hotto’s free-kick in the first half gave Pirates the win but Riveiro was not pleased with how his team started Saturday’s game.

“Again, it was not a good beginning of the game, a bit loose and there were two clear chances to score for the opponent, coming from our own mistakes,” the Pirates coach said to SuperSport TV.

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“We’re lucky that (goalkeeper) Melusi (Buthelezi) did a good job in the last seconds but that was not the right way to start.

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“But little by little I think we took fully control. The opponent played with a a low block which made it difficult to find the spaces, they’re a difficult team to break down but we created enough in the first half. We were more comfortable after the goal, creating more and more spaces,” Riveiro added.

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