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Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is pleased by his side's newfound ability to grind out wins even when they're not in their element, ahead of their match against on-form Polokwane City tomorrow (Orlando Stadium, 3pm)
Polokwane have beaten AmaZulu and Magesi in their two opening league fixtures.
On a cold Saturday evening, Pirates were not on fire but managed to beat Jwaneng Galaxy 1-0 in the second leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round at Orlando Stadium. Pirates have advanced to the 16-team group stage of the Champions League.
Monnapule Saleng struck deep in stoppage time to ensure Pirates win 3-0 on aggregate, after beating Jwaneng 2-0 away.
It was the first time that the Sea Robbers qualified for the Champions League group stages since the 2018/19 season.
"I know that today it wasn't a beautiful game, where we can say that Pirates had a lot of chances... no, it wasn't that type of game. But I think we had a professional performance and we got the result that we were looking for. I am happy to see the team growing in this direction,'' Riveiro said after the Jwaneng win.
"Last season we needed to be extremely good in each and every game to get the result. On a day that we were not good, it was difficult... collecting 1-1s, 0-0s. We have to contextualise today's game one more time.
Bucs also did not play their best football when they won 2-1 against Chippa in their league opener, also at Orlando, in the midweek. It was another Saleng late strike that secured maximum points.
"It's a third game [on Saturday] in a space of one week, we played last Saturday in Botswana and we came back and we played Chippa at home and it was an extremely difficult game to play... very physical and today we played again, against a physical team."
Riveiro admitted that taking Pirates to the group stages of the intercontinental premier club tournament was "special".
"Absolutely special for me. If you can imagine, not everyone has an opportunity to coach Orlando Pirates first of all. That's the first thing that makes me feel fortunate and that's why we have a fantastic group and they are taking us to the group stages,'' Riveiro said.
