Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says it was good to see his attackers Thembinkosi Lorch, Vincent Pule and Relebohile Ratomo fighting for the team defensively in the win over Kaizer Chiefs.
The Buccaneers beat Amakhosi for the first time in six matches, as they ended a five-game losing streak in the league thanks to a first-half goal by Evidence Makgopa.
Riveiro says after they scored in the first-half, the second stanza was all about suffering to protect their lead and get the win.
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"With the efforts of the players and everybody around the players, what can I say, we are a collective, we try to do the things always with that way of thinking and today was proof, we had good moments of football, we capitalized on one of the chances," Riveiro told SuperSport TV.
"Second-half was more about to suffer, to use as much as possible the only spot that we had to do the subs in the second-half, understanding that we need the contribution from the bench,
"When you're playing every three days it becomes more relevant, so all the credit to the guys and the ones who came from the bench to contribute, to keep the things in order until the end.," he said.
Pirates worked hard behind the ball, with their attackers coming back to help the team and Riveiro continued and said that he was pleased to see them fighting for the badge.
"I think we need to do better, we used to dominate those stats in each and every game but when we lose or when we draw everything looks bad, we get (judged) by the final score and nothing else," he said.
"But we didn't play in a different way today. But it's true that in the second-half, we're playing against an excellent team, very physical, they are losing, they have to throw everything and you have to be at least as good as they are in the duels.
"And it's nice to see our Rotomos, our Phillips (Ndlondlo), our Pules, our Lorchs fighting like you need to fight this badge."
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