'We are going to perform like this' - Jose Riveiro takes aim at Al Ahly after guiding Orlando Pirates to Caf Champions League quarter-finals & CR Belouizdad coach Abdelkader Amrani slams Bucs' ball-boys and referee as Khanyisa Mayo's side bow out of the tournament

Orlando Pirates defeated CR Belouizdad 2-1 in a Caf Champions League group stage match on Sunday afternoon at the Orlando Stadium.

Goals from Relebohile Mofokeng and Thalente Mbatha saw the Sea Robbers advance to the quarter-finals.

Pirates coach Jose Riveiro and his Belouizdad counterpart Abdelkader Amrani reacted to Bucs' win over the Reds.

"Congratulations to the players, as I said at the start of this competition we are a young team, very young, inexperienced in the competition starting from the coach. These guys are doing a fantastic job," Riveiro said on SABC 1 after the match. 

"Thanks to the fans for the support because we really need them in every game, especially for this one, I'm so happy for them. 

"No, we want to play a game with our style, with our philosophy. We are going to Cairo to try to be ourselves and to perform like this, at this level, we know the difficulty of the task one more time, but we are ready to go." 

"I believe that we missed equalising in the first half and in the second half also we missed an opportunity to equalise," Amrani said. 

"But overall, the referee was also not up to scratch and there were a lot of mistakes here and there that the referee missed, so the game was not good at all.

"I believe that the referee could have done better to make sure that the game was balanced. But at the same time, we missed the courage to launch an attack, also to build up," he added.

"I am not saying that the home team was not good, they deserved to go through, but at the same time what the ball boys were doing, every two to three minutes there were breaks here and there, that was not good at all." 

The victory at home elevated Pirates to the top of the Group C standings, having gathered 11 points, leading second-placed Al Ahly with a point, but both teams have secured quarter-final spots.

Meanwhile, Belouizdad remained in position three with six points, while bottom-placed Stade d'Abidjan managed only one point from five matches.

Belouizdad and Abidjan have been eliminated from the competition.

Pirates are set to clash with Al Ahly on January 18 in their final Group C game, while Belouizdad will face Abidjan at home.

It will be intriguing to see if Riveiro will field his non-regular players to play against the 12-time Champions League winners in Cairo.