Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler believes the early goal set the tone in the 3-1 victory against Jomo Cosmos in the Nedbank Cup on Sunday.
The Buccaneers remain in contention for silverware this season after marching into the quarterfinals of the competition.
Tendai Ndoro bagged a brace in the third and 49th minutes, while Luvuyo Memela grabbed a goal in the 44th minute.
"I think we played very well to be honest. We created a lot of chances at the beginning of the match," Tinkler said on the club's website.
"We knew coming into this match that they would be anxious from the previous match against us so it was important that we scored early and we did just that.
"But honestly we should have been 2-0 up in the opening five minutes but we failed to capitalise on the chances. But be that as it may, I'm happy with our overall performance."