Coach Josef Zinnbauer believes that Bloemfontein Celtic whom his team Orlando Pirates beat 1-0 in a DStv Premiership fixture at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Tuesday evening were tough opponents.
The German led the Buccaneers to their sixth win in seven matches with the other match having ended in a draw.
“Difficult match for us, very tough. The performance was not so good, players were very tired. You can see that the players were not fresh enough,” the Pirates coach said.
“We are happy with the points. Last seven games, six wins and a draw. We are looking forward to Saturday.”
The Buccaneers are closing in on the top two teams, especially after SuperSport United and Swallows FC lost their matches on Tuesday.
“We have not had the same games as the other teams. Focus for me is the next game against Chippa (United). Not all games are the same,” he said.
The Buccaneers visit the Chilli Boys at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday (17h00).
Meanwhile, Phunya Sele Sele coach John Maduka has admitted that Ndumiso Mabena’s red card just before the half time break changed everything for them.
Mabena was sent off by match referee Masixole Bambiso following a late tackle on Pirates’ Linda Mntambo.
“Look, second half we had to change everything. We tried to defend as a team because were a man down,” the former Mthatha Bucks and Celtic midfielder said.
