Ouaddou urges Pirates to be more ruthless after missed chances

ORLANDO Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou believes his side could have scored even more goals in their Soweto Derby win over Kaizer Chiefs.

The Buccaneers beat their arch-rivals 2-1 in the Betway Premiership at a sold-out FNB Stadium on Saturday, 31 October.

Tshepang Moremi and Yanela Mbuthuma were on target for Pirates as they claimed the derby bragging rights.

But despite the win, Ouaddou said his players were wasteful in front of goal.

The Moroccan coach believes Pirates created enough chances to score as many as five goals.

He also questioned a disallowed goal, saying he still needed to check whether the decision was correct.

“I think if we have to speak about the chances that we missed, we also have to speak about the goal that we scored. I have to check, but I’m not sure he’s offside,” Ouaddou said.

Ouaddou said teams can be punished if they fail to take their chances.

“If you are not efficient in both boxes, you can expect that the opponent will have his momentum, and he will punish you,” he said.

The Pirates coach also pointed to his side’s struggles in front of goal last season.

He said, according to the data available to the club, Pirates created more scoring chances than any other side on the African continent last season.

Ouaddou said the technical team are working hard to improve the team’s finishing.

He said Pirates are using individual development programmes and specialised sessions with strikers and midfielders.

With the CAF Champions League campaign approaching, Ouaddou said Pirates must become more ruthless in front of goal.

“We keep working on our side. We are doing a lot of individual development programmes, specifically with the strikers and midfielders. We are doing the job.

“But the Champions League is coming, and we need to be a little bit more ruthless because we need to score goals. I don’t want us to regret those moments,” he said.

Ouaddou also admitted Chiefs had chances of their own.

But he insisted Pirates could have won by a bigger margin.

“Today, of course, Kaizer Chiefs had their moments. They could have scored three goals as well, if I’m honest. But we could have scored five goals as well,” he said.