Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has hailed his charges' "resilience" after their win over Sekhukhune United just days after their Soweto Derby.
Pirates edged Sekhukhune 2-1 courtesy of goals by Deon Hotto and Makhehlene Makhaula, who won his second consecutive Man of the Match award.
READ | Pirates squeeze past Sekhukhune
"It's an excellent result, massive three points for us, one more achievement to win here away against Sekhukhune," Riveiro said on SuperSport TV.
The Buccaneers were forced to make a chance early in the game after Thapelo Xoki replaced Thabiso Sesane.
"It's always an inconvenience obviously, the game plan is not gonna change, it was not compromised but you need time to adjust again some positions, some behaviors, also for Thapelo to come in an unexpected way," Riveiro went on.
"It was difficult for him in the beginning to get the pace, to get the rhythm but little by little I think we managed to be ourselves especially in the first-half and in the beginning of the second."
The Spanish coach credited the substitution of former Pirates midfielder Linda Mntambo, who pulled a goal back for Babina Noko, as problematic towards the end.
"Once they introduced the last subs, gambling a little bit and looking for deep balls to the striker with Linda in between the lines, it was a little bit difficult to contend. We gave away a lot of balls, a lot of fouls," Riveiro said.
"Actually I think their goal is coming from one situation, where we had a good transition that we didn't read very well and immediately we're defending in our box.
"Anyway, one more game to put in our back, in terms of resilience, we're coming from a derby, a tough one, it's really a demanding week for the team and so far the behavior of the team, the performance is second to none."