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PLAYERS IMPRESS PALACIOS

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Augusto Palacios (supplied)
Augusto Palacios (supplied)

ORLANDO Pirates’ interim coach, Augusto Palacios, was impressed with his players after their 2-1 victory over Highlands Park in the Telkom Knockout quarterfinals at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

Palacios was thrilled that his side managed to bounce back from their humiliating 6-1 defeat to SuperSport United in a league match last week.

The Peruvian born Palacios took over as caretaker coach of Bucs last week following Muhsin Ertugral’s resignation and had only three days with the team before the Highlands’ game.

However, the four changes he made in the starting lineup paid off and Palacios said it was just a matter of time before Pirates got back to challenging for honours.

The last time Palacios was in charge of Bucs was in 2012 and he went on to win the league after taking over from Julio Leal.

He said: “With the changes I made to the lineup, my first priority was to control Highlands Park from counter-attacks because that is where they are dangerous.

“I watched tapes of their matches against Maritzburg United and Chippa United. They are good on counter-attacks and excel at switching on the ball.

“I am happy with how the team played tonight. There were times where we showed Pirates’ style of football – but then we would lose possession too quickly. We need to work on being more patient on the ball.”

However, Lions of the North mentor Gordon Igesund, who suffered his first defeat since joining the club, reckons his side deserved to win. “I think both sides fought very well. We had about 14 shots at goal and I can’t ask for more. I think we deserved more than what we got in this game. It was a typical cup game.”

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