Abdeslam Ouaddou not ringing alarm bells after Sundowns defeat | OneFootball

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Ouaddou remains optimistic despite Downs setback

Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/ Gallo Images

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says the Buccaneers are determined to take the Betway Premiership title race down to the wire following their 2-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Soweto giants fell to a brace from Downs talisman Brayan Leon in the first-half, while Patrick Maswanganyi scored the consolation in the early exchanges of the second stanza.

Pirates' lead at the summit has been cut to three points, with second-placed Sundowns having amassed 35 points with a game in hand, owing to their CAF Champions League commitments.

While many suggest failing to beat the defending champions could result in the title slipping away from the Sea Robbers, Ouaddou remains optimistic of clinching the championship.

“If you ask me that question when [there's] five games left, I would agree with you. But with the number of games that we still have anything can happen. It's 13 games left, for me, we still have to work, to give everything because you can have many suprises in football,” he said.

"We have to fight until the end of the league, this is the message that I want to give. The PSL is a very good league with good teams and we wanted to avoid this scenario but it happened and it's not the end of the world, and we have to keep working and to keep believing.

With games coming thick and fast, the former Morocco international urged his troops to keep their heads up ahead of the final stretch of the 2025/26 campaign.

“We managed to score early [in the second half] and we pushed to try to equalise, unfortunately we did not. It's football, of course, there is disappointment from us about the result but we are not going to have our heads down,” Ouaddou added.

"We need to be proud, not of the loss, but to be proud of what the guys have achieved since three or four months and the adventure, the journey must continue because we still have a lot of games and we need to wash the heads, to be positive because we still have a match in the Nedbank Cup coming soon and after we have an important game [Soweto derby] again.

Pirates will swing back to action with a Nedbank Cup Round of 16 clash against Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit Casric Stars at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday.