It won’t be easy to reach MTN8 final: Pirates coach Ouaddou cautions

As Orlando Pirates and Sekhukhune collide for the third time in seven days in the second leg of the MTN8 semifinals at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday (3pm), Buccaneers coach Abdeslam Ouaddou hasn’t hidden that he didn’t like his side’s display in their latest outing.

Pirates beat Sekhukhune 2-0 at the arena in the league on Tuesday but despite winning, Ouaddou wasn’t too happy with the performance.

Bucs won the first leg of the MTN8 semifinals at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium 1-0 last Saturday, and for Ouaddou that was a better performance.

“We had an interesting game in Polokwane in terms of organisation, discipline and fighting spirit. For me, we could have won 2-0 or 3-0,” Ouaddou said.

“I have to be honest, today [on Tuesday] we won and I am happy for the three points, but we didn’t deserve to win today. Sekhukhune were far better.”

Ouaddou is of the view that reaching what would be their fifth MTN8 final on the trot won’t be easy. Pirates have won the MTN8 four times on the bounce.

“I know that it won’t be easy to qualify for the final … if we don’t find solutions it will be very difficult,” the Bucs coach said.

Sekhukhune will be without their coach Cedric Kaze in the dugout on Saturday after he was red-carded midweek. Babina Noko assistant coach Paulus Masehe expects Pirates to adopt their usual game plan on Saturday, saying they don’t change.

“Playing against Pirates is always the same because they don’t change how they play … they don’t adapt to anyone’s style,” Masehe said, adding that on Tuesday they showed that they had developed confidence.

“We were able to take the game to Pirates and that was an improvement from the game in Polokwane. We showed that we’ve developed confidence.”

Sowetan