Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has revealed Kaizer Chiefs’ tactics that opened up the Soweto derby after a five-goal thriller on Saturday.
Pirates completed a league double over their archrivals for the first time since 2008 after a 3-2 win, thanks to a brace by Monnapule Saleng and another goal by Thabiso Lebitso.
Amakhosi twice took the lead from Ashley Du Preez, but they ended up losing all the points.
The game was surprisingly open and Riveiro suggested, in a post-match press conference after the game, that the Glamour Boys not using their regular three-man midfield of Yusuf Maart, Edson Castillo and Sibongiseni Mthethwa, and playing with number 10s, Pule Mmodi and Mduduzi Mdantsane instead, created the spaces.
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"They (Chiefs) had the opportunity to play Maart, Mthethwa and Castillo and they didn't. They came with proper number 10s, so they also came to try to play more football, to try to dominate us in some moments of the match," Riveiro said after the 3-2 victory at FNB Stadium.
"And that's why we had the opportunity to see a game that was, in my opinion, more entertaining than the previous derbies. The last derby we played good for 20, 25 minutes in the first-half, but we didn't manage to be consistent during the 90 (minutes) like we were today," he said.
Meanwhile, the Glamour Boys interim coach Cavin Johnson defended his decision to make changes to his line-up, particularly the introduction of Mdantsane, who had not played since the resumption of the league.
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"The changes came about purely because of Keagan (Dolly), he got injured," Johnson said in the same post-match press conference.
"Sometimes some of the changes didn't work, the change with Mdantsane worked because he created the first goal and Mmodi should have scored the other goal (he created), but I think he was part of the creation of both goals we scored.
"So, ja, he did a good job. When you have 30 players, they should all be ready to start anytime," he added.
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