Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says he was not surprised by TS Galaxy beating Mamelodi Sundowns in Mbombela.
Sundowns travelled to Mpumalanga riding on the wave of what appeared to be a league defining 4-1 thrashing over Pirates at Loftus two days prior.
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But they suffered a shock 1-0 loss to a tactically disciplined Galaxy outfit who are on a 13-match unbeaten run across all competition this season.
“We know why we lost… and then what happened in the next game against [TS Galaxy] is something we cannot control obviously,” Riveiro said when asked by iDiski Times how the Rockets win affected the mindset of his squad.
“I’m not watching the game hoping [Sundowns lose] or going to my phone to check what’s the score every five minutes because there’s nothing, I can do there. I try to just focus on our next games, right now it’s a cup game.
“Once we manage to go through, hopefully, we will feel much better with ourselves, it’s an important game to show that we still alive – there’s going to be much more needed this season to move Pirates out the road, it’s not going to be possible.
“The league is a marathon, it’s 30 games, I will say a couple of topics of football, but it’s the truth – there’s good teams right now, teams in good moments of form, for example what happened the other day with Galaxy and Sundowns, for me it’s not a surprise.”
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Riveiro was adamant straight after the loss in Tshwane that the title was not over, despite Sundowns going nine points clear with a game in hand over their second placed rivals – and was proven right and he’s paid homage to clubs like Galaxy and Polokwane, who secured wins over Sundowns whilst in a good run of form.
“We all know how difficult it is to go to Mbombela, I think Galaxy last season was the best in home matches after Sundowns, if I’m not mistaken, it’s the same, playing games every, two, three days – teams like us, like Sundowns,” he continued.
“So having a bad day, is normal, human, it’s acceptable and that’s the competition itself. Every time we play away, all the big teams, fighting for this trophy, must feel that pressure when playing away from home.
“I think having Galaxy in that form, Sekhukhune as well, it was a terrible game for us to play, Polokwane City, hopefully soon some other teams [can hit top form], it’s good for the league, competition and our football.”
