Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has hit out at Cape Town City venue following the two sides stalemate in the MTN8 on Wednesday evening.
The Buccaneers and the Citizens played out to a 1-1 draw in the semi-final first leg at DHL Stadium.
Ezimnyama Ngenkani scored first via Relebohile Mofokeng while Jayden Rhodes equalised for the home side.
The Sea Robbers will now head to the return tie with a slight advantage of an away goal as the two sides meet against at Pirates backyard, Orlando Stadium on Saturday, 31 August.
Riveiro attributed the team's inability to perform their usual style of play to the condition of the pitch, stating that they typically rely on the surface for ball movement.
The pitch was poor due to the heavy rains that have been taking place recently in Cape Town leading to the postponement of the match from Tuesday to Wednesday.
JOSE RIVEIRO ON WHY THEY COULDN’T EVEN PLAY THEIR NORMAL GAME
“Did you see the field? We tried; we want to play with the ball on the grass sometimes it's difficult,” said Riveiro during the interview with SuperSport TV after the match.
“I think Cape Town was really pressing well and we have our problems with the first touch. But the level of the players that we have, the characteristics of the players we have.
“The football that we tried to play. It's a little bit compromising this situation, we know, we accept the risk, we know we going to lose the ball sometimes and suffer one or two transitions, it happened but I think we growing.
“I think we just in the beginning of the season, playing very competitive games since day one. This is the fourth final we played and the fifth one is coming on Saturday.”
