Abdeslam Ouaddou: Orlando Pirates let Mamelodi Sundowns off the hook

While Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso felt the top-of-the-table encounter lacked spark, Ouaddou disagreed – insisting The Buccaneers finished the stronger of the two teams and would have been deserving winners. 

The Pirates mentor feels it was a performance his side can build on going forward. 

"We started quite slow, Mamelodi Sundowns put us in trouble in terms of building – they managed to find the free player in the middle, and we had a problem with [Marcelo] Allende, [Nuno] Santos, [Bathusi] Aubaas because they were trying to overload," said Ouaddou.

"We had prepared well, but I thought we were not aggressive enough to prevent them from building up, and we then quickly made some changes in order to have more endurance in the transitions.

"That worked because we created the most chances, and I was so happy about the second half – the way we played football and how we respected the game plan.

READ: Top of table clash failed to live up to hype - Cardoso

"To be honest, I think it's a game that we should have won, based on the physiognomy of the match, and the number of chances we created, and today I think, to be honest, it should have been a victory for Orlando Pirates.

"But let's go with this point, let's not be too tough on our boys, they did well and let's go and fight in the next games that we have in hand, and let's go and take the lead on the log [table]."

Ouaddou, however, dismissed suggestion that Pirates could have a psychological edge over Sundowns in the title race, especially given their two games in hand with just three points separating them.

"To be honest, every game is different. I cannot say that we've taken a psychological step over Mamelodi Sundowns," he argued.

"Sundowns is a good team; Pirates is a fantastic team as well, we saw a good game today and the next game will be different, with a different context and environment."