Jose Riveiro ready to help Orlando Pirates 'keep fighting & performing' to beat Mamelodi Sundowns to PSL crown - 'Hopefully we'll have enough luck every week'

Orlando Pirates secured a vital 2-1 win over Sekhukhune United to keep pace with the defending Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

It wasn't an easy victory for the Soweto giants who are six points behind Masandawana having played a game less.

However, the Spaniard is determined to push the Brazilians for the title.

Riveiro and his technical team were forced to tinker with his central defense after Thabiso Sesane's injury earlier in the first half. Tapelo Xoki came in to partner Nkosinathi Sibisi, but the duo struggled to contain Babina Noko, especially after the break.

"It's an excellent result, massive three points for us, one more achievement to win here away against Sekhukhune," he said after the game.

"It's always an inconvenience obviously [to make an early change, the game plan is not gonna change, it was not compromised but you need time to adjust again some positions, some behaviors, also for Thapelo to come in an unexpected way.

"It was difficult for him in the beginning to get the pace, to get the rhythm but little by little I think we managed to be ourselves especially in the first half and in the beginning of the second."

In the final 30 minutes, Sekhukhune threatened Pirates on several occasions with Linda Mntambo scoring late to set up a tense finale. Riveiro explains how it was tough dealing with their hosts.

"Once they introduced the last subs, gambling a little bit and looking for deep balls to the striker with Linda in between the lines, it was a little bit difficult to contend. We gave away a lot of balls, a lot of fouls," he added.

"Actually I think their goal is coming from one situation, where we had a good transition that we didn't read very well and immediately we're defending in our box. 

"Anyway, one more game to put in our back, in terms of resilience, we're coming from a derby, a tough one, it's really a demanding week for the team and so far the behavior of the team, the performance is second to none."

Sundowns have won 13 out of the 14 games played, while Bucs have secured victories in 11 out of the 13 outings. Despite being six points behind Masandawana, Riveiro is convinced the Buccaneers can still beat Downs to the title.

"It's the same pressure since day one when I arrived here. I'm coaching Pirates, a champion team, a winning team, and everybody is expecting us to improve the history of the club, and to get titles," Riveiro explained.

"We're trying, we're having a fantastic start – we're in February, but we can still talk about the start of the league because it's game number 13; but at the same time, we are fighting with other good teams. 

"One of them being an excellent team, who are the [league] champion for the last seven years, if I'm not wrong, so even though we've had an excellent start to the season, we're still some points behind, but we're not going to stop, we'll keep fighting and performing."

Riveiro concedes his team was lucky to beat Sekhukhune, and the tactician hopes the trend continues.

"Hopefully we'll have enough luck every week to get the result and, like I said, the pressure has been the same since day one; there's nothing different this season," he added.

"It's true that right now the team is giving more reasons to the people who think we can make it, and that's very good new [thing], but there's nothing new or different in terms of the responsibility that we all feel to be part of this team."

Pirates will have another chance to further reduce the gap between them and Sundowns this weekend when they meet in the Premier Soccer League.

The Saturday game will be staged at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday.