Riveiro unfazed by Pirates’ inconsistency
Bucs put defeat behind them as they face Birds
Consistency remains the main problem for Orlando Pirates, and this is one of the reasons they are struggling to mount a serious challenge for the DStv Premiership title.
Under coach Jose Riveiro, the Buccaneers are struggling to string together a noteworthy unbeaten streak, which is the cornerstone for most title-challenging teams, along with away victories.
Their away form has been poor this season; in 11 matches on the road, they won only three, lost four and drew four.
These are the qualities Pirates are lacking this season and on Saturday, they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Sekhukhune United at Peter Mokaba Stadium after goals from Vusimuzi Mncube and Linda Mntambo, while Tshegofatso Mabasa scored for his side.
That defeat came after they beat Kaizer Chiefs 3-2 in the Soweto derby before the Fifa international break and failed to build on that, as has been the case this season where they failed to put together a run of successive victories.
When asked if he is now bothered by the inconsistency of results after the Sekhukhune defeat, Riveiro dismissed the thinking his side is not consistent. “It is the first time we lost a game in 2024,” Riveiro responded.
Only once this season were Bucs able to register three successive victories when they beat Moroka Swallows, TS Galaxy and Golden Arrows in December.
Against Sekhukhune, Riveiro decided to rest his Bafana Bafana international players [Tapelo Xoki, Nkosinathi Sibisi, Thabang Monare and Patrick Maswanganyi], a move that backfired.
And the Spaniard, who was not happy with his side’s performance, said it could be the reason why they were below par against Sekhukhune.
“It could be... It could be.
They scored two, we scored one and that’s why we are going home with zero points. That’s all I can tell you,” he said. “I already summarised the game in the first question and everything is there already.”
The Buccaneers will be eager to bounce back to winning ways when they make a short trip to Dobsonville Stadium to face Moroka Swallows tomorrow (7.30pm) to keep their hopes of finishing in the top two alive. Swallows will come into this game with their confidence high following their 1-0 win over Cape Town Spurs on Sunday away.