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Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic bemoaned a "lapse in concentration" after seeing his side suffer a 1-0 defeat at the hands of SuperSport United on Wednesday evening.
SuperSport claimed the lead in the 65th minute thanks to a Clayton Daniels header, but Pirates had the opportunity to draw level from the penalty spot after Evans Rusike's handball.
However, Happy Jele failed to convert from the spot as SuperSport 'keeper Ronwen Williams kept out his effort, with Justin Shonga failing to hit the target after pouncing on the rebound.
Speaking to SuperSport TV after the match, Sredojevic said: "It's not pleasant to come in front of you.
"We had a plan to dominate possession, control the space, control the numbers. In the first half we had so many possession turnovers from the players that were banking they were going to control the game.
"From those turnovers the opponent opened some counter-attacks. At half-time we had agreed to correct that and not allow it to happen.
"In the first half it was like weight of expectations, anxiety brought us to making mistakes that are not natural. It looked like we were too much under stress in any way.
"At half-time we relaxed the situation and put on a team to play the way we know how to play - to control.
"Unfortunately, in a moment where we wanted to bring on the right player for [Abbubaker] Mobara, who was on a yellow card - [Asavela] Mbekile we conceded the corner-kick.
"And in that moment [after conceding the goal] we brought on players to affect the game, [Luvuyo] Memela, Thamsanqa Gabuza and Mpho Makola. They helped us to go on and attack in all cylinders.
"If we had scored on that penalty it would have changed the whole complexion of the game completely. However, we tried under difficult circumstances. I want to call this a setback."
Sredojevic felt his side's efforts were not rewarded on the night and has called on his players to bounce back against AmaZulu on Saturday evening.
He continued: "Football is very hard to predict, you can plan for everything.
"We planned from the beginning to play that way, but it seemed like we needed a snake to bite us, concede a goal and then start to play the way we were supposed to play from the start.
"If we played like that from the start probably that corner-kick would not come, dominate throughout. However, we need to pick up the pieces, look at what went wrong and bounce back on Saturday against AmaZulu.
"Very disappointed, in any way the efforts of the players that did not match the outcome of the match. We believe we have out-played the opponent, but we were out-scored by the goal that was a moment of lapse in concentration."
