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'It's not possible' - Orlando Pirates coach Zinnbauer plays down PSL title talk
The 50-year-old tactician was not pleased with his charges' performance as Bucs were made to sweat by ten-man Siwelele
Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer says they cannot be considered to be PSL title contenders at the moment following their win over Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday evening.
The Buccaneers were made to sweat for a 1-0 victory over Phunya Sele Sele, who played the entire second-half with 10 players at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
Former Pirates striker Ndumiso Mabena was red-carded on the stroke of half-time after making a reckless challenge on Linda Mntambo.
Zinnbauer admitted that it was not Bucs' best performance, but he was pleased to see his side collect the maximum points on the night.
"Difficult game. Not the best performance from us. But recently we had a lot of games and here we didn't play so well but we have three points," Zinnbauer told SuperSport TV.
"We can discuss against 10. But sometimes it's more work against 10 players. Not a good performance from us but we are happy with three points. It was important for us.
"Now the players can rest. You can see they are very tired."
The victory took Pirates to third place on the league standings - four points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have three games in hand.
When asked whether the Buccaneers are competing for the league trophy, Zinnbauer insisted that Bucs do not have enough points to be considered as title contenders at the moment.
"We don't have enough points we can talk about the top of the log. It's not possible. We look from game to game," the German tactician said.
"We have also the cup in the handbag. We have to see what happens in the future. When we come closer, we can talk about the title."
Pirates ended their six-year trophy drought by winning the 2020 MTN8 title under Zinnbauer, who masterminded a 2-1 win over Celtic in the final in December 2020.
The last time the Buccaneers won the PSL title was in May 2012 under coach Augusto Palacios and since then the Soweto giants have finished second twice in the league between 2018 and 2019.
Bucs are set to face Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 6.
