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Pirates have no advantage over Sundowns – Riveiro
Pirates and Sundowns played to a goalless draw in the first leg.
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro wants his charges to score early against Mamelodi Sundowns (Picture: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix)
Jose Riveiro doesn’t seem to think that Orlando Pirates have an advantage over Mamelodi Sundowns going into the second leg of the MTN8 semi-final at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
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Riveiro’s Pirates hosted Sundowns two weeks ago in the first leg at the Orlando Stadium, with the sides playing to a goalless draw.
The result was beneficial for the Buccaneers since they managed to prevent the Brazilians from scoring an away goal, and now the Soweto giants have a chance to score away, which will be advantageous for them to make it to the final should they play to a draw that has goals.
“An away goal can be an important factor at the end of a game, but we need to score and we didn’t (in the first leg). There is no advantage for anyone so far, but we need to score. At this moment the score is 0-0,” said the Pirates mentor.
“I am sure that both teams will start the game looking for that advantage (to score). So, it won’t change the way we prepare for the game, the approach, and the players we are going to select (to start the game.”
Riveiro added that they have been having limited time to prepare for matches, but says they have used the time they have sufficiently for this fixture.
“We have been having three days between the games and we are trying to use the time as best as possible to prepare for the tough game and special journey on Saturday.”
