Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has praised his squad for executing his tactical switch to a 3-4-2-1 to perfection in the 2-1 win over Mamelodi Sundowns.
Pirates’ initial line-up looked to have 4-2-2-2 formation with Boitumelo Radiopane up front with Evidence Makgopa but was seemingly altered before the deadline of the team sheet submission with Mbekezeli Mbokazi coming in for the young striker.
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Neither formation has been used this season but the back-three managed to stifle the in-form Sundowns attack and restrict them to only a single shot on target over the 90 minutes, which represented Pirates’ first league one over Masandawana in five years.
“Why did we play with a back-three? Well, I’m not going to tell you all the reasons behind it obviously, I think you are football experts as well, I think it’s for you to analyse why we did it, what is the consequences of doing it, are we going to do it again, no? Football is a chess game sometimes,” Riveiro said.
“As coaches we dream and hope about making as much influence as possible, always trying to do a positive influence, we came here with a clear intention and ambition to win the match. We showed it in the beginning of the game, clearly that we didn’t come to just to have a walk in the park.
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“I think the guys executed it a very good way, not having so much time to prepare for the game, I think I’ll give them 10 out of 10 for executing the game plan and that little adjustment we had in the defensive phase, with three centre-backs today.
“And with your first part of your question, I don’t really know, sorry [about the line-up change].”
Pirates are now 15 points behind the reigning champions, with four games in hand.
