Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou felt his side could have “killed off the game earlier” against Stellenbosch FC.

The Buccaneers secured their first win in the Betway Premiership after edging out Stellies 1-0 at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The win saw the Buccaneers move up to 11th place on the table with three points after three matches.

Meanwhile, the defeat saw the Maroons drop to 14th place with one point from three matches.

Pirates will shift their focus to the MTN8 when they take on Mamelodi Sundowns in the semi-final second-leg encounter on Saturday.

“Of course, delighted, delighted for the fans because I have a thought for them because they were waiting these three points since now two-three weeks so I have thought first of all for them,” Ouaddou told SuperSport after the game.

“I would like to congratulate my boys because they have got the character as well. We had a very interesting first half, we created top chances, we could have killed the game earlier.”

He added: “In the second half, I think that we lost the control and I think we have to improve that if we want to go higher. We cannot accept that to lose control in a game that we controlled since the beginning,” Ouaddou added.

“Look, because I’m looking for positional game, I’m looking for space between the lines, but modern football has to balance the opponent.

“Sometimes you need to identify the free space and they did it well. We have to diversify our style of play not only that, but it was interesting today,” Ouaddou concluded.