ZINNBAUER RUES MISSED CHANCES
Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer believes his side would have only been able to beat Mamelodi Sundowns if they had taken their chances in the first half.
Pirates did have opportunities to score in the first half especially but they could not convert and it came back to bite them as Sundowns claimed the points courtesy of Brian Onyango’s first goal in a Brazilians shirt in the 35th minute.
The German tactician seemed to suggest that the outcome of the tie was always going to be decided by whoever got the first goal.
“Set-pieces, goal, it’s always difficult,” Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV.
“We know against Sundowns. All the little luck in think in the first half we were good in the game. We had a lot of opportunities to score a first goal. Second half we did what we can. Played forward, chances yes. But not enough of the final shot or final pass.
“We gave it all in our last 20 minutes. And when you do that, they could hit us on the counter. Then we had a little luck. I’m disappointed. We did a lot of work, it was not a bad performance. But yeah we had not the goal that we need. I think if we scored in the first half, we could have won the game.
The German tactician also explain why he made the decision to take off Waye Jooste and replace him with Siphesihle Ndlovu at halftime.
“It was a tactical aspect. We needed a goal. We know Ndlovu is flexible, he can play as a six or as an eight. This was the reason we changed at half-time. We wanted more offensive options. It wasn’t just Ndlovu. It was the whole team. We had the opportunities but we didn’t score and then it’s not possible you can win a game.”