Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has expressed his thoughts on their draw against Kaizer Chiefs in the final Soweto derby of the season.

The Buccaneers were forced to settle for a point after playing out to a 1-1 draw when Kamogelo Sebelebele cancelled out Pule Mmodi’s opening goal at the FNB Stadium.

The draw sees Pirates remain at the top of the Betway Premiership standings with 59 points, one point ahead of second place Mamelodi Sundowns.

Ouaddou admitted his side were second best in the physical battles early on, acknowledging that a slow start and a lack of attacking sharpness in the first half prevented them from asserting their usual dominance.

“Look, we expected a tough game, when you see the line-up especially in the middle, we knew that they will not come trying to play maybe to be well organised compact, but very physical duels it’s what we had,” Ouaddou told SuperSport TV after the game.

“I think in the first half, I thought we were really nice with the duels we didn’t win too much duels, we didn’t win too much duels, we didn’t start the game like we wanted, we didn’t create a lot of chances like the other games we have played.”