Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has identified his side’s main area for improvement following their 2-1 extra-time victory over Durban City FC in the MTN8 quarter-final at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday.
The Sea Robbers needed a late goal in extra time to defeat Durban City in front of their home fans to book a spot in the semi-final of the MTN8.
Pirates opened the scoring in the first-half from the penalty spot with a strike from Patrick Maswanganyi in the 37th minute before Durban netted an equalising goal in the second-half to force the game into extra time.
With the game seemingly headed to the penalty shootout, Pirates found a killer blow with a well-taken goal from new signing Gamphani Lungu. The Zambian international signed for Pirates in the off-season from Betway Premiership side Siwelele FC.
Before Lungu rescued Pirates, they struggled to put the ball in the back of the net, wasting most of the goal-scoring opportunities they created.
OUADDOU LAMENTS PIRATES’ LACK OF CLINICAL EDGE
Reflecting on the performance, Ouaddou revealed that Pirates’ main problem is not breaking the low block; instead, he believes that his charges create goals under difficult circumstances, but they fail to score.
“Look, you have to analyse the possession, you have to analyse the chance creation and the data is clear that we dominated,” Ouaddou told SuperSport TV.
“It was just a question of time; football is not an exact science, but we have more probabilities to win this game if we continued to push, have our full backs pushing high and show some attacking football.
“But I’m not a fan of slow football; for me we have to put the tempo and the rhythm and suffocate that team. They played a low block, but even with this low block, some people think we have a problem with a low block. I don’t think so. I think we had chances, but we need to convert them; this is the problem.”
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