Relief for fans as Bucs sink Downs
Michaelson Gumede
Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic insists that his side will not get carried away after convincingly beating Absa Premiership favourites Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld.
Pirates gave Masandawana a taste of their own medicine as the Brazilians had beaten them 3-1 at Orlando Stadium in the reverse fixture last November.
“You need to understand that there was so much pain among our supporters throughout last year,” said Sredojevic.
“We really wanted to give them something to be proud of but we are not over the moon. We live under the philosophy ‘when it is good do not fly and when it is bad do not give up’. We felt the salt and Sundowns had the sugar at Orlando Stadium. Now the salt is with them and sugar is with us,” he added.
The Serb explained why his team appeared to be momentarily “parking the bus” and having a more cautious approach going forward, after they took an early lead through goals from Ntsikelelo Nyauza and Mpho Makola.
“We did not have the philosophy of sitting back and defending but subconsciously the lead is pulling you back to protect what you have in your hand. We dropped back and I was not satisfied the way we defended.
“A big game like this one has its waves and we used our waves very well. There are so many positives from this game and there are so many negatives that we need to work on,” Sredojevic added.
The coach on the other end of the stick, Pitso Mosimane, said the Sea Robbers’ game plan did not fall short of his expectations.
“The game came up exactly the way I expected. To be honest and to give my team a little bit of credit, I think we dealt well with those transitional plays they had.
“We just went to sleep on the first goal. And the second goal, I call it part of the budget because if you are going to play from the back you must pay the price. Teams that don’t concede goals like these are those who take route one. If you are going to play from the back, you are honestly going to get caught a lot of times.”