Mabasa hails Pirates’ ‘important’ victory over Baroka

Hat-trick hero Tshegofatso Mabasa says it was important for the Buccaneers to bounce back after their disappointing loss to Mamelodi Sundowns.

This comes after the Buccaneers, who were handed a 4-1 drubbing by the Brazilians in a Betway Premiership match played at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium last week, beat Baroka FC 3-1 in a Nedbank Cup last-16 clash at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

Mabasa was the hero for Pirates, scoring a hat-trick for Jose Riveiro’s side as they continued their defence of the Nedbank Cup title.

READ MORE: Mabasa nets hat-trick as Pirates rout Baroka to reach Cup quarters

“Really great result for us today you know, great way for us to bounce back. I think we needed to show such a performance especially after our previous game [4-1 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns],” Mabasa told SuperSport TV after the game.

“We need to pick up our heads and fight, there’s lot of points to fight for and there’s a lot of cups to fight for so this is what we always want to do and that is to go all the way in each and every cup competition.

“This is a big team, quality players and a good technical team and like I said we want to go all the way in each and every competition and hopefully win it,” Mabasa added.

Riveiro says record belongs to Pirates

Meanwhile, Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has once again refused to take credit after breaking another record.

Riveiro is yet to lose a game in the Nedbank Cup, but the Spaniard insists that he cannot take the praise for the record, saying it is the players who deserve it more than him.

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“I don’t speak about individuals, so I’m not going to do it about myself,” he told SuperSport TV.

“It’s my team – the team who is winning is Pirates; the team who is breaking records is not the coach.

“We’re together, we try to do our best to help the team to improve our history together. We are on task.”