Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has praised Patrick Maswanganyi’s personality after he slotted home a panenka penalty in the 94th minute against Kaizer Chiefs.
Maswanganyi stepped up to decide the Soweto Derby when it looked like the game would end goalless after Njabulo Blom impeded Relebohile Mofokeng inside the box.
Despite missing a crucial penalty against Cape Town City a few weeks back, Maswanganyi stepped up and cheekily scored the injury-time winner.
“The penalty? Look, not because I don’t trust the players but I don’t used to look to the penalty kick,” Riveiro said, when asked about the spot-kick.
“It’s too much for me sometimes, to be sitting there and trying to anticipate what’s going to happen.
“But this time, and I’m not just trying to be cocky, I knew… Just leave it there, I knew.
“I knew that if something happens like this he’s going to take the ball because people sometimes want to be critic with Patrick [but] for me from a coaches perspective, give me players who always want to be on the ball in situations like this, in games like today, when things are not going well, he always wants to take the ball.
“And he’s making mistakes because he’s putting himself on the line. We’re blessed to have a player like him around.
“As much as he is doing sometimes things that are not easy to understand, I do, I do and I want him to be himself on the field because that’s the way also get the best part of Patrick in each and every game.
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“And I think today he showed he has that kind of personality to ask for those moments when the situation is crucial, is critical and it’s not easy to take.
“There are not many personalities like that or you don’t have many opportunities to work with personalities like that frequently.
“Obviously, if it’s not going well, it’s going to be another discussion but again happy for him after what happened to him in Cape Town to get the responsibility today in a scenario like this one, 94th minute.
“So yeah, fantastic mentality.”