Ertugral’s men pay the penalty

Orlando Pirates coach Muhsin Ertugral says his team didn’t have a good start and couldn’t deal with long balls after Bidvest Wits knocked them out of the MTN8 tournament following a 2-1 defeat at Bidvest Stadium last Saturday.

Pirates had taken an early lead in the game courtesy of an Oupa Manyisa penalty in the 14th minute, but Wits dominated much of the possession and were finally awarded with a goal after goalkeeper Felipe Ovono failed to grasp the ball from Buhle Mkhwanazi’s header to level matters in the first half, before captain Thulani Hlatswayo sealed the victory for the home side after benefiting from another Ovono mistake with 15 minutes left, finishing the game with 10 men after Xola Mlambo was sent off.

“We didn’t start very well, but we led through a penalty. I think the first 45 minutes we were not in the game. We couldn’t cope with the long balls, we knew that if we defended deep the second ball was going to be a problem and I’m sure we never even won one second ball,” said Ertugral.

“That was their game, we couldn’t deal with the long balls from all the angles.”

The Buccaneers mentor believes his team played quite well in the second half, however they missed their chances.

“We changed our pattern in the second half and it worked for us. We should have scored when Tendai Ndoro went through at goals alone and then there was an error at our goalkeeping department and they scored a goal. “

Moving forward, the Turkish coach said he stood by his decision to play Ovono, but he would look deep into the keeper’s situation.

“We have to think about that, we need to see what kind of a situation he is in and how he is feeling,” he added.

“I took a decision and I stand by it. I take the blame. It was an unfortunate situation, I thought he wasn’t concentrating on the second ball as well. But these situations happen, we cannot point any fingers. We have to look at where we lacked in our defensive tactical approach which we could have dealt better with.”

That was their game, we couldn’t deal with the long balls from all the angles. Pirates coach Muhsin Ertugral