Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has praised "excellent" Kaizer Chiefs and revealed what made them "feel not comfortable" after they eventually beat them 2-1 in the Nedbank Cup Soweto derby semi-finals.
Pirates went ahead on 14 minutes courtesy of Kermit Erasmus and Chiefs only replied with 11 minutes remaining, as Yusuf Maart forced the game into extra-time.
Sandile Mthethwa scored the winner for the Buccaneers with six minutes left in extra-time.
Read: A Closer Look At Pirates' Goalie Hits And Misses
Riveiro praised Chiefs for their physical conditioning and suggested that their speedy front-line of the likes of Ashley Du Preez and Christian Saile Basomboli made them feel uncomfortable in their build-ups, as Amakhosi were looking to use the space behind their defence.
"I think we played very well early in the game until we get the lead, after getting the lead we didn't control the game the way we wanted, it's something we need to do better," Riveiro said in a press conference.
"But at the same time I understand it's not easy, we faced an excellent team, especially in terms of conditional capacity, they are very strong, very physical team, it's very difficult to control them when the game is going through duels and second actions.
"They have two, three players that keep you the whole game really feeling the threat and every mistake that you make in the build up they gonna punish you immediately with the ball behind," he said.
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The Spanish coach also admitted that they wanted to win the game in 90 minutes, as they had played three games with only two days of rest in between and it was not easy for them to cope in extra-time.
"So it's not easy for the guys to feel comfortable on the ball and I think we abused a bit in the first-half the balls behind their lines which was part of the plan but many times then we couldn't get the continuity in that progression," he went on.
"We thought before the game that we have to do it in 90 minutes because we're coming from three games in a row, only two days between the games, even though we have made a lot of subs (substitutions) but it's not easy to compete mentally also," he added.
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