Orlando Pirates head Jose Riveiro praised his side for grinding out the results in a tight schedule after a 2-1 win over AmaZulu, as they extended their perfect start to five matches.
19-year-old Mohau Nkota scored two goals in the first stanza and Pirates missed a host of chances in the second stanza and nearly allowed Usuthu back into the game after Hendrick Ekstein reduced the deficit in added time.
READ | Young Nkota steers Pirates past winless Usuthu
"Well played in most moments of the 90 minutes, difficult in the beginning until we managed to unlock a little bit their defensive plan, an excellent goal and after that everything is easy, to play," Riveiro told SuperSport.
"But I'm not happy with not capitalizing on the opportunities of the second-half, we should have put the game to sleep nice and early in the second-half but you see what happens in football?
"We didn't defend well after the goal, because we're leading 2-0 it cannot happen. A little bit of uncertainty in the last corner but it's football, we have to play until the last whistle. We were not in a situation in the second-half to feel entitled to not finalize the action, to still be aggressive.
"But I think it was a good performance. It's not easy to play football every two, three days the way the boys are doing, so we have to be happy with the three points and the performance overall," the Spanish coach said.
The Soweto giants have another league game around the corner, as they visit TS Galaxy on Tuesday and Riveiro added the schedule is not easy for everyone around the world.
"We're all struggling around the world with the schedule, with the calendar. We're exploring a new space, as coaches, as a football club, as players to make sure that we're healthy and ready to go," the 47-year-old coach continued.
"Obviously playing every three days doesn't help, not only so that the players can recover but also so that the players can perform. We come to the field the people around, the people at home don't really necessarily know, they want to see good football.
"They want to see their favourite players always in their best and it's not easy but considering the performance tonight, I think that we're doing a good job in that sense as a club," the Spanish coach added.