Zinnbauer praises defensive work while Hunt is left disappointed
“I think we did a very good job in defending, it was a good team effort. I think it’s deserving of the three points for us,” said Pirates' German coach.
Josef Zinnbauer, head coach of Orlando Pirates prepares his team for their Caf Champions League bout. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
While Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt was understandably disappointed with the outcome of the game, Orlando Pirates mentor Josef Zinnbauer praised his charges team effort following their 2-1 victory over Chiefs in a DStv Premiership tie at the Orlando Stadium last Saturday.
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Pirates had opened the scoring through man-of-the-match Thembinkosi Lorch in the first half, before going on to make it 2-0 in the last half.
But, Chiefs managed to pull one goal back courtesy of Daniel Cardoso.
However, with Amakhosi coming in hard in their quest to get back into the game, Pirates made some very good defensive work which impressed the German mentor with the club seeking a winning momentum in the league.
“First half I think we were good in the game, had good opportunities. I don’t know, we have to check if that was offside (Vincent Pule ruled offside in the 27th minute). After scoring we had another big chance in the last minutes of the first half and I was a little bit upset (not to have used the scoring chances),” said Zinnbauer after the match.
“I think we did a very good job in defending, it was a good team effort. I think it’s deserving of the three points for us.”
The loss ended Chiefs’ five games unbeaten run. Hunt’s men wasted a number of scoring chances including a penalty by striker Samir Nurkovic.
Still though, the Amakhosi coach believes his team gave a very good performance on the day and they were just unlucky not to have been the side to walk away with maximum points on the day.
“Disappointed, we should have won the game,” said Hunt.
“I thought we played very well. I also think we had more than enough chances to win the game, very unfortunate to lose the game. But sometimes football doesn’t always go your way. We had many chances and I thought we did well today.”
With the win, Pirates find themselves in a good position to catch up with the team’s at the top of the league standings.
The Buccaneers are five points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns as Zinnbauer’s troops took their point tally to 25 after 15 games and sit in position five on the table.
The Glamour Boys, meanwhile, have dropped to position eight on the standings. Chiefs have only managed to accumulate 18 points in their last 15 matches.
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