Praise for Bucs despite draw against SuperSport United

ORLANDO Pirates had a point to prove against SuperSport United‚ even if they had to settle for a 0-0 draw in Tuesday night’s Absa Premiership match at the Orlando Stadium‚ Bucs coach Milutin Sredojevic said.

His team‚ in third place in the PSL‚ had been on a mission to prove themselves more competitive than in last season, where they finished an abysmal 11th.

He said a credible showing against SuperSport‚ who handed Pirates two humiliating thrashings last season‚ had been important for Pirates.

However, he would have perhaps been relieved to some extent that SuperSport did not put a few more goals past his team as they missed a string of first-half chances in a dominant first half. Pirates recovered to create some good chances of their own in the second half.

“I want to give credit to the players – they really tried their best‚” he said.

“Having in mind that in two competitive matches – the Nedbank‚ and last year, where I have never seen this in my life, where in less than 45 minutes it was 6-1 – we conceded 10 goals.

“It is something that we have been very much motivated to work very hard on and prove the point that we are a competitive team this year.

“I want to give credit to the players – they are working very hard.

“Small details decided that we didn’t take three points in a game that could have gone either way.

“And we are looking forward in the game against AmaZulu to try to turn into goals whatever we create.”