Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is delighted with the way his players managed to hold off TS Galaxy and claim maximum points in the Premier Soccer League.
Bafana Bafana internationals Thalente Mbatha and Relebohile Mofokeng struck the back of the net in either half to help the Soweto giants claim their sixth consecutive win on Tuesday night at the Mbombela Stadium.
The win piled pressure on the Premier Soccer League defending Champions Mamelodi Sundowns who will later on Wednesday night play Cape Town City hoping to reduce the six-point gap.
The Spaniard conceded playing the Rockets was not going to be an easy task, but he is happy that the players kept their cool to get maximum points.
‘It was a tough outing' – Riveiro
“It’s the game we expected, every time we come to Mpumalanga to face Galaxy it’s always a very tough one, it’s an extremely difficult team to play against,” Riveiro conceded.
“They push you to play at a very high tempo throughout the 90 minutes, the moment that you want to slow down the game and control it, they don’t allow you to do it. You have to keep going but we did a fantastic job in terms of work ethic, and consistency and we didn’t concede goal chances, even though Galaxy managed to dominate us, but without creating much danger, it was a massive three points for us.
“We have the mentality to collect three points knowing it’s going to be difficult and we lost here 1-0 a few months ago. But this time it’s for us, and a well-deserved three points with a good performance,” he concluded.
Galaxy, who have collected a point in the five league matches played, will play Magesi this weekend in the Carling Knockout quarter-final as Pirates welcome Richards Bay at the Orlando Stadium.
