Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has explained how Orlando Pirates played into their hands by including striker Zakhele Lepasa in their line-up in the Soweto Derby.
Chiefs edged Pirates 1-0 on Saturday courtesy of an outrageous kick by Yusuf Maart from his own half late in the game.
The Buccaneers coach Riveiro had a surprise inclusion of Lepasa in the line-up, to join Kermit Erasmus and Monnapule Saleng, who both came to the game on form.
Read: 5 Lessons Learnt From The Soweto Derby
Zwane has explained the importance of midfielder Njabulo Blom in nullifying the danger posed by Erasmus and Saleng and revealed that actually Pirates adding a second striker in Lepasa played into their hands.
"We had to make sure we don't allow them any space and time on the ball and you know a player like Kermit (Erasmus) he's a nippy player, he's very clever, he can see those moments," Zwane told journalists in a post-match press conference.
"He's good one v ones, he can shoot with both legs, he's a dangerous striker so I think having (Zakhele) Lepasa gave us a better chance in the game rather than having another midfielder who will operate the pockets.
"So at some point they were duplicating their runs, which it was in our favour where our guys dealt with that much better. So Njabulo was always there, waiting for those moments, especially the second balls," he said.
"Or to put pressure on whoever was going to receive the ball centrally, whether it's Lepasa, whether it's Kermit, when we saw that it's Lepasa, we said, 'Ok that means they have two, then Yusuf (Maart) you can push a little bit high up'.
"Then now they going to be forced, one of them will have to go and help defend and they didn't do that and then it allowed us enough space now to operate in the middle."
Zwane also said that that his side was unlucky not to go to the break with a lead of one if not two goals and complimented their overall tactical approach for making Pirates look "ordinary".
"They had no space to breathe, you could see now they were doubting themselves, we had to wait for them to make any change and then react from there because we needed to see what they wanted to do," he said.
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"Then we counter that but at the same time make a change that we know we (don't) panic. We had them first half, I think we were just unfortunate like I said not going to half-time maybe leading 2-1 or 2-0.
"If you can suffocate a team of Pirates' calibre, with so much quality on the field and make them be ordinary on the day it tells you that the plan was well executed by the players," he added.
