Bucs' late goals key to league success - Riveiro

Pirates fret over Ndah, Saleng fitness for final

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has suggested their recent trait of scoring late goals and having super-subs will prove crucial this season. 

Once again, Pirates needed a late goal to overcome Richards Bay 1-0 in their league game at King Zwelithini Stadium over the weekend, where Kabelo Dlamini came off the bench to net a clean free-kick in the 82nd minute. In their previous match, Bucs had Evidence Makgopa scoring a brace off the bench to give them a 3-0 win over Polokwane City.

Against Rise and Shine, Monnapule Saleng had given them the lead five minutes before the hour mark, before Makgopa sealed the deal by scoring in the 85th and 91st minutes. Before that, Saleng had scored winners deep in stoppage time against Chippa United and Jwaneng Galaxy.

"I think all of these things [having super-subs and scoring late goals] are positive in order to create the right confidence for us, not only for the final...we have a long season in front of us,'' Riveiro said.

Actually, we are not 100% sure if they'll be available in the final as well, so we are not saving anybody because we're taking every game like a final.Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro

"We are going to find ourselves many times in scenarios like today, where we're fighting for that goal [to win the match] and that goal isn't coming and the opponent is defending with everything they have. It's good to create these memories [of scoring late goals to win games] because it's something you carry with you during the competition.''

Pirates' next game is an MTN8 final against Stellenbosch at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday (6pm). Riveiro lauded his players for dealing diligently with the Bay game without thinking about the final before finishing the job at hand, also insisting he didn't save Saleng and Olisa Ndah for the final as they missed the Bay outing.

"We have a final in six days but today we didn't see anybody with their mind somewhere else other than this game. If you remember our last game against Polokwane City, both Olisa and Saleng were subbed because of different injuries, that's the reason they are not here...they weren't available for selection,'' Riveiro said.

"Actually, we are not 100% sure if they'll be available in the final as well, so we are not saving anybody because we're taking every game like a final. We gave the same respect to Richards Bay as we will give Stellenbosch in the final...that's the way we want to do things."

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