Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs were left facing contrasting Premier Soccer League fortunes following Saturday's Soweto Derby showdown.

The Buccaneers edged Amakhosi 1-0 at FNB Stadium on Saturday to ease pressure on coach Jose Riveiro.

It was a crucial victory for Pirates who moved to seventh on the table and now have nine points fewer than log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

Masandawana have, however, played two games less than the Sea Robbers.

While Pirates could take pride in that they moved closer to Sundowns, Riveiro is demanding more from his men, although he has been impressed by a few players.

"I think we need to do better," said Riveiro.

"We used to dominate those stats in each and every game but when we lose or when we draw everything looks bad. We get judged by the final score and nothing else.

"But we didn't play in a different way. And it's nice to see our [Relebohile] Rotomo [now Mofokeng], our Phillips [Ndlondlo], our [Vincent] Pules, our [Thembinkosi] Lorchs fighting like you need to fight this badge."

As for Chiefs, they were left ninth on the standings and they are 10 points behind the Brazilians.

Having played four games more than Sundowns, Amakhosi face a huge task to catch up with Masandawana in the PSL title race.

Chiefs caretaker coach Cavin Johnson has guided his side to two defeats and one win so far and he blames a few incidents for Saturday's defeat.

"A little bit of a mistake from my team but in saying that, I think we were able to contain the game and we came out better in the second half," Johnson told the media.

"I thought we had a penalty disallowed and we hit the post with [Edson] Castillo, but at the same time, the team played a lot better than I expected them to play today.

"In the last stage maybe we could have ended up going home with a draw or even a win."

Chiefs now go for the Fifa international break and hope to come back to face Moroka Swallows.