Orlando Pirates interim coach Rhulani Mokwena remains tight-lipped on the drama surrounding their late goal against Highlands Park.

READ: Late Mabasa goal fires Pirates to vital win over Highlands

The Buccaneers returned to winning ways after Tshegofatso Mabaso netted a controversial late goal during their 1-0 victory over the Lions of the North in Tembisa on Tuesday.

However, Mokwena refused to comment on the controversy surrounding Mabaso’s harsh challenge on Lindokuhle Mbatha and also his goal, as replays suggest the Pirates striker was well offside.

There some controversy with Tshegofatso Mabasa’s late goal, but Mokwena was just happy to walk away with three points on the night.

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‘We’ve played better but to be honest we don’t care at this point in time, we just take the three points,’ Mokwena told SuperSport TV after the game.

He added: ‘No comment. We take a win and we breathe a sigh of relief at this point in time and congratulate the players grinding it out today.

‘We asked them to grind it out, keep a clean sheet and that’s what they did. Congratulations to the Orlando Pirates players, they deserve the victory today.

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‘Sometimes it feels like we’re in trouble but it’s because the ball is coming in, the crosses, long throws are coming into the box, that’s the percentage football they play and we have to deal with it.

‘Gallant performance from the players once again – a fight, very worthy of the three points today. A lot more vertically, Highlands are strong, very organised; they do man-marking orientation all over the pitch very well, they are a difficult side to beat, not a lot of teams will come here and get three points, so we take it. It’s also the first time we’ve beaten Highlands Park, we’re humble, we keep our feet on the ground and we move on to the next one.

‘We didn’t change much [in the second half], just a bit of tactical discipline, sometimes we had to alter the structure a little bit, we don’t normally play this way, we had to play a little different because they man-mark. Sometimes if you have far too much movement, then you block certain areas of the pitch and that’s what they want. We had to try to be smart a little bit but today the most important thing was the result, we take it and congratulate the players, well done and well deserved,’ he concluded.