Ouaddou Hails Pirates’ Dominant Display
Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou was thrilled with his team’s victory against Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday.
The Buccaneers’ win saw them move up to the fifth position on the Betway Premiership log, with nine points after five games.
Patrick Maswanganyi, Deon Hotto, and Tshepang Moremi scored the winning goals for Pirates, who were determined to take advantage of their rivals’ results.
“This was a game of six points, not three points, as you saw our rivals won yesterday (on Saturday), and our target is to be very close to them and reach the top of the log table,” Ouaddou said, referring to the wins by Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, and Sekhukhune United, who are all yet to lose this season.
Ouaddou praised his team’s preparation and analysis of Chippa United, despite the Eastern Cape side’s recent coaching changes.
“We have analyzed Chippa, even though it was hard because they’ve changed coaches a lot,” he said.
“But the thing is that I know the coach (Luc Eymael) very well because I played against him in another country. I know his philosophy, and with some input from our analysts’ department, I think we managed to analyze their weaknesses.”
The Moroccan mentor was impressed with his team’s performance, particularly their ability to score three goals early in the game and keep a clean sheet.
“I think the boys did very well, and they used the weaknesses of Chippa, and that’s why we scored three goals today [Sunday] very early,” he added.
“It’s good for the boys and also for the entire team to score many goals, especially when playing away.
“It’s very important also to keep a clean sheet, and of course, I’m very happy because we’ve not been efficient at the back. So, it’s good for the boys that they kept a clean sheet, and I’m proud of them.”
After the FIFA international break, Pirates will focus on the final of the MTN8 Cup against Stellenbosch on 13 September at Mbombela Stadium.
