Riveiro says derby could have ended 0-0, but Pirates got a legitimate penalty

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro graciously praised Kaizer Chiefs for the way they engaged his team throughout the 90 minutes in Bucs' 1-0 Betway Premiership Soweto derby win at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

The 47-year-old Spaniard — adding a first derby win of 2024-25, and fourth in succession, to a strong campaign for his side — said Chiefs did not deserve to lose the match in front of a sold-out, 90,000 crowd and he believed a 0-0 draw would have been a deserved result for both sides.

Despite that sentiment, Riveiro felt ultimately his team was rewarded for marginally shading a derby that battled to swing into action in the first half, but livened up markedly in the second, where Patrick Maswanganyi's penalty six minutes into added time gave Bucs a last-gasp winner.

“I think the result is fair and it's a reflection of both performances in my opinion. It was not a 5-0 performance, but I think Pirates were better on the day,” Riveiro said.

“It's a 0-0 game. The game should have finished 0-0 without that penalty, which I think is a [legitimate] penalty.

“From the bench it looks like two penalties actually from the defender [Njabulo Blom, who tugged on Relebohile Mofokeng] and the goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma [who did the same].

“But anyway, one more time, if we want to call ourselves league contenders in South Africa in PSL, you know that you have to go to maybe 70 points. In how many previous seasons did they [Sundowns] get that?

“Do you remember — 72 right [in fact, 73, as Downs set a points record winning their seventh successive league title last campaign]? So any team that wants to be a league contender in the PSL must understand that you cannot give away so many points.

“Even though we're playing at FNB, this was our home game, so the home games are going to play an important role in that race. It's a huge victory today, plus all the emotional components and confidence, energy and all of these things.” 

Pirates enter another tough week starting with an away league match to Sekhukhune United in Polokwane on Wednesday before completing it with another blockbuster fixture against log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus on Saturday.

“We're going to Polokwane on Wednesday, but the price is the same, it's three points. It's huge,” Riveiro said.

Pirates moved to 30 points from 12 matches from the derby win, three behind Sundowns.

Chiefs (21 points from 15 games) remain in fifth place.