A satisfied Jose Riveiro said he was delighted that his Orlando Pirates side bounced back from an opening day defeat with an entertaining morale-boosting 4-2 win over Royal AM at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.
Striker Zakhele Lepasa grabbed a brace as Monnapule Saleng and Bandile Shandu also were on the scoresheet as the Buccaneers got their title ambitions back on track.
READ | Lepasa double guides Pirates past Royal AM
Riveiro highlighted his side's inability to better control the tempo of the match to protect their lead before eventually running out comfortable winners.
"If you don't kill the game, and we had a lot of opportunities to do it, you can be punished," Rivieriro said post-match.
"We were punished when the score became 3-2 with two minutes remaining, and I think we were all a bit nervous in the end, but Shandu finally managed to score the fourth one.
"I think it's a fantastic victory as it was difficult to bounce back as it's always complicated to lose the first game of the season.
"Because you have to come back, and the boys did it very well today handling the situation.
"Even though we have youngsters on the field, they were very mature, as I told them I was happy with the two performances.
"Not only the performance of today.
"Overall, I think we can be happy with our performances over the last four days, and we're now looking forward to the next one."
Pirates next host Sekhukhune United as they attempt to defend their MTN8 title at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 18:00.
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