Riveiro – Why We Didn’t Sub Monyane Before Red Card

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has explained why he didn’t feel the need to substitute Thabiso Monyane before he was sent off.

The Buccaneers suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Sekhukhune United on Tuesday, with Babina Noko beating the Sea Robbers for the first time in their history.

The game looked evenly poised for large parts but Pirates’ job was made harder when Monyane receive his marching orders in the 59th minute.

With the player already on a yellow card, questions were raised whether Riveiro should’ve protected his player and substituted him earlier, but the Spaniard insisted it didn’t cross his mind.

“If we substitute every player who gets a yellow card, we will finalise the game sometimes without substitutions,” he said when asked by iDiski Times.

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“The players needs to understand that there are different situation in the game they have to keep under control and they have to manage to sometimes play with one yellow card, sometimes without.

“We didn’t have any problem at that moment in that sector, so it was unexpected and that’s it.”

The result saw Riveiro’s side drop into fourth spot on the log ahead of the evening fixtures, as they missed a chance to close their five-point gap on leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.