Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic has lamented the mistake made by goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands in the side’s 1-1 draw against Highlands Park.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper conceded a horrible own goal as Pirates salvaged a 1-1 draw against the Lions of the North in their Absa Premiership opening game of the 2018-19 season.
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Sandilands’ howler gifted Owen Da Gama’s side the opening goal after he failed to control a backpass from defender Gladwin Shitolo which landed up in the back of his own net.
‘It’s very hard to accept, because he has worked very hard for six weeks then one situation comes like this and he concedes a goal,’ the Pirates mentor said in post-match comments.
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‘You have two choices: one is to attack him and put him into a deeper hole, or request the team to support him in order not to waste the substitution.
‘It’s really unfortunate, we have learned the lesson, we shall look not to repeat and we move on.’
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The Serbian was pleased to see his side create chances after going behind in the first half but was also critical of his team’s showing.
‘We played against a team that had the intention to take us on counter-attacks. We have closed all the counter-attacks but that calamitous goal we conceded put us on the back foot.
‘We were playing against a team that was defence-orientated. I have to give credit to the players, they have given everything and we created chances but besides that equalising goal, we didn’t score more.
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‘It is something we have to go and analyse what we have done wrong but I believe we have done everything right bearing in mind that the opponent didn’t have a shot at goal against us in 93 minutes but still got a result.
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‘We need to be much better in buildups, much better in penetrating going forward. We need to analyse and work hard.
‘This is the first game of the season… I’m fully aware that today we didn’t achieve what was our target,’ he concluded.
Pirates’ next league assignment sees them face Chippa United on Wednesday, 8 August at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium with kick-off set for 7:30pm.
Photo: Backpagepix
