Cape Town - Midfielder Mpho Makola praised his teammates following Orlando Pirates' 1-0 victory over Chippa United in their Premiership clash on Tuesday.
The Buccaneers bagged all three points at the Orlando Stadium courtesy of a strike from Tendai Ndoro after 21 minutes.
Makola, who played a crucial role in the win, earned the Man-of-the-Match award.
"It was a tough game. We're glad we got the three points. We knew that Chippa liked playing from the back," he told Soccer Laduma.
"They always knock the ball around, so we needed to absorb the pressure and catch them on the break."
Makola admitted that while Pirates created a number of chances, they had goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane to thank for keeping them in the game with a number of crucial saves.
He also praised the rest of his team-mates for their exceptional work rate during the game.
"The good thing is that we created a lot of chances, and I'm glad our keeper was on form. He saved us today. I think the whole team played as a unit and did really well, which is more important for us.
"Today Chippa were playing a high line. We told our attacking midfielders to play in behind them all the time. We only needed one chance to catch them and we did."
The win takes the Buccaneers to fifth place on the PSL standings, four points off log-leaders Cape Town City.
The Soweto giants next travel to the Mbombela stadium where they face Stuart Baxter's SuperSport United in a Telkom Knockout Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Kick off is at 18:00.