Orlando Pirates head coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic has praised his players after they came from a goal down to beat AmaZulu 2-1 on Sunday.

Usuthu took the lead through Mabhuti Khenyeza with just 11 minutes played and were looking up to the challenge of facing the in-form Buccaneers. Pirates, however, showed great determination as they fought back through a Musa Nyatama header before Thabo Qalinge scored the winner late into the second half.

The result sees Pirates close the gap on leaders Mamelodi Sundowns to just three points, keeping the Soweto Giants in contention for the title, should the Brazilians slip up.

After the game, the Serbian coach was quick to praise his players for their performance on the day.

‘First of all, if you really want to build a team, you need to bring them to this stadium against this team to grow because this team demands you to concentrate from the start to the end,’ Sredojevic told SuperSport TV.

‘We started on the back foot, allowing them to score from a counterattack. Later on, we came back. I personally think that should’ve been a red card to the goalkeeper, but it’s not my decision to look at.

‘We scored from that set-piece, and at half-time, we regrouped and went all out knowing we are tired from Wednesday’s game and needed possession for the patient build-ups.

‘But to build the situation will bring us the chances to score and that chance finally came and I’m happy because it’s a team effort and technical team included.

‘We have to give total credit to the players because they showed what wearing this jersey means to them and what winning this game means as well,’ concluded Micho.

Photo: Chirs Ricco/Backpagepix