Ouaddou laments Lungu's penalty miss
by Kickoff writer · KickOffOrlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has opened about his side's 2-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 final on Saturday evening.
It was not the best of starts for the Buccaneers who were out to land a fifth successive crown having won the last four and trailed at halftime through an early finish by Teboho Mokoena.
There was a chance early in the second half to draw level when Mokoena fouled Yanela Mbuthuma to concede a penalty, but Ghampani Lungu failed to beat Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams as Iqraam Rayners dispatched a penalty at the other end in the dying minutes to secure the cup.
READ | Mokoena & Rayners fire Sundowns to MTN8 glory
“Look, there are two – one moment in the game. I think when we come back with the penalty, I think it was a good momentum to come to score, I think if we had scored maybe the game could’ve been different. But I’ve nothing to approach to my boys, they gave everything,” Ouaddou told SuperSport TV.
“We wanted to win that trophy and get history again, but it’s football, they gave everything. We tried to be disciplined to respect the plan, but of course at the end we let sort of space because we wanted to score so maybe Sundowns could’ve scored a lot of goals as well.
“But I think really the momentum was the penalty, otherwise I think the boys applied exactly what we wanted. We had the possession, I have to see the number of chances we created, the season is long.
"We’re going to fight to keep this title, but it’s good we are disappointed for our fans of course. But I think South African fans have seen a good football match today, high level and that’s it but I’ve nothing to approach to my boys."