THE COACH of Orlando Pirates, Abdeslam Ouaddou, talks about a habit he sees that could disturb this team from Soweto in the race for the Betway Premiership title.
Zimnyama collected three points with a 2-1 win over Polokwane City on Wednesday night at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane.
On this day, Mamelodi Sundowns, who put them in a bad position in the league competition, won in the same way against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria.
Although the Pirates have kept their place at the top of the log, the importance of scoring goals has always been clear since there were times when Ouaddou’s got the upper hand during the games.
After the game, Ouaddou counted how many times they gave up easy goals and described it as a dangerous disease in what they dream about.
“We came for full points in Polokwane, so I am happy for the players that they did what we asked of them,” said Ouaddou.
“In the first 10 minutes, we created eight goalscoring opportunities which were accompanied by driving the post 31 times throughout the game, but we ended up scoring two goals.
“The truth is that if we are determined to be part of the competition for the league title or to settle in the place where we are sitting on the log, this habit of giving up scoring opportunities must end,” said Ouaddou.
The Moroccan coach did not hide his disappointment with Polokwane’s actions which he described as putting the players’ lives at risk.
Instead of playing in the spacious stadium built for the 2010 World Cup, Polokwane decided to host the game in the old stadium.
“It is disappointing that Polokwane chose to play the game on a field that is dangerous for the players instead of using a field that is in good condition and nothing was happening on it.
“I saw this as the old style of African teams to undermine the plans of their opponents, but I did not expect it in a big league like the Premier Soccer League (PSL),” said Ouaddou.