Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi was left frustrated after his troops spurned a chance to move closer to second place after playing out to a 0-0 draw against Chippa United at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.
Had the Sea Robbers won the game, they would have been just two points adrift of second place Royal AM. Second place in the league grants a club the right to play in next season’s Caf Champions League.
“It was a match we should have won. We dropped two points. It was valuable points that we needed but when you miss chances like we did, you won’t win matches,” said Ncikazi.
Pirates’ lack of consistency is a problem that has haunted them for more than a decade, so much so that they have not won the Premiership title since 2012. They have also drawn 13 games this season, winning just nine.
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Chippa’s high defensive line and a solid shift by Chilli Boys goalkeeper Lloyd Kazapua and defender Sandile Mthethwa ended up preventing Pirates from scoring.
“We were supposed to score but you can see the opponent played a game where they were just here to play for a point. They got what they wanted but we wanted the three points. We failed to score and could not. We dominated and controlled, but they sat in a low block very close to their goalkeeper. We threw everything but it just did not happen today,” added Ncikazi.
Pirates can salvage some pride and end the season on a high by winning the Caf Confederation Cup. Should they win Africa’s equivalent of the Europa League this season, they will become the first South African side to win the tournament. They will also become the first South African side to win a continental tournament since Sundowns won the Champions League in 2016.
One problem that Ncikazi and his technical team need to resolve is finding more variety in terms of creating and scoring goals. Pirates are overly dependent on one-on-one situations and if they want to go to the next level, they need to bring more variety, something Ncikazi has alluded to.
“We didn’t have spaces in the wide channels that we wanted. They didn’t give us space between the goalkeeper and the centre-backs. We had to be creative in front of goal and take shots from range. Neither of that worked today and that’s why we got this result,” said Ncikazi.