“We have another 90 minutes to go,” commented Maseko.
Despite taking a commanding lead to the second leg, Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has warned that the CAF Champions League preliminary round tie against Lioli.
The Moroccan coach said this after Buccaneers began their African journey with a 3-0 over the minnows from Lesotho at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
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A brace in the second half from Tshegofatso Mabasa and a late strike from Oswin Appollis gave Pirates a huge advantage going into the second leg at the Orlando Stadium next Saturday.
Asked if he thought the Buccaneers had one foot in the second round following their convincing win over Lioli, Ouaddou said: “I don’t think like that. As long as we haven’t finished the second leg, no I don’t think we have one foot in the next round,” said Ouaddou.
Ouaddou then explained how Pirates managed to break down the Lioli defence in the second half after the teams were locked at 0-0 at the break.
“It was a game with two phases. We knew the opposition would arrive with a low block and energy. We didn’t find the space, especially in the central corridor, but there was no space, and we were too slow down the sides in the first half,” commented Ouaddou.
‘We’re going to fight’
Lioli coach Bongani Maseko, felt his side had themselves to blame for their loss against Pirates. The South African blamed his side’s poor finishing for the defeat.
“I thought we defended really well, and we were dangerous on the transition, but we just didn’t take our chances in the first half. And then in the second half, they changed the structure of their team and that created some problems for us,” said Maseko.
Despite the heavy loss to Pirates, Maseko still believes that his side still has a chance to turn around the tie and reach the second round of the CAF Champions League.
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“I think the first half is 3-0. It’s the second half now. We’ll try to look at the video and do our analysis and see what are the things that we need to improve oon before the second leg. We’re still going to fight; the game is not yet over. We have another 90 minutes to go,” commented Maseko.