Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer has identified certain areas in which his side can improve ahead of their opening DStv Premiership clash against AmaZulu on 24 October.

The Buccaneers got their 2020-21 campaign off to a positive start after clinching a 1-0 victory over Cape Town City in the MTN8 quarter-final on Saturday.

Pirates broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Terrence Dzvukamanja bagged a debut goal but City were forced to finish the game with 10-men after Fagrie Lakay was shown a straight red card in the 33rd minute.

However, Pirates held on to their lead until the final whistle to secure their place in the semi-finals of the competition.

‘It was a difficult, hard game for us. Good structure from the opponent on defence and offense. They are a team that is always on fire on the counter-attack,’ Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV

‘But it was the first game. The first game is not easy for any team and we saw the structure was good on defence but on offence not so good.

‘We had a lot of chances. We could have decided the game before the 90 minutes. Usually we finish the game off. When you don’t get the second goal, you get problems. Maybe you saw it yourself. We had a lot of counterattacks and chances but the final shot or final pass was not good. That’s the next step we have to work on.

‘Three weeks is not enough time to get the system in to the team. We have a lot of new players. The new players were not in the training sessions. Only one week together. And then you see the last step or moment is not hundred percent.

‘It’s a cup game. It’s different to a league game. I’m sure next week when we play in the league we will have more structure.’