Orlando Pirates coach Ruud Krol was once again left to rue his side's profligacy in front of goal after a 2-1 defeat to Maritzburg United.

First-half strikes from Fadlu Davids and Mario Booysen were enough to secure the win for Ernst Middendorp's charges despite a consolation goal from Andile Jali.

The result leaves Pirates in fifth spot and in danger of slipping further down the standings in the remaining two fixtures.

Krol admitted that his men were outplayed in the first 45 minutes, but should have won the game after creating a wealth of chances.

"First half, we didn't play well. I thought we were sloppy in defence, we were not marking and picking up the free man," he said after the defeat.

"We were not tight. In the first half we gave them too much space but in the second half we did better. We created so many chances and in my opinion we should have won the match 4-3 or 3-2 because we had so many chances, but we are just not scoring."

Teko Modise was pulled off the field in the 49th minute, with many worried that his injury may have resurfaced.

But the Dutch mentor revealed that he opted for the substitution because the midfield maestro was below par.

"If players are not playing well, I will change them. I look for the win and try to compensate with other players who I have on the bench and are also part of the team," Krol added.

Next up for Pirates is the Soweto derby, which the coach is aware will be a completely different ball game.

"Of course, it is a big match, a difficult match with lots of different things (feelings) and history around the game," he said.

"We are playing at home and we must win the game and we still have the quality to win the match."

Maritzburg coach Ernst Middendorp, meanwhile, was delighted with the result.

"I think it was a great performance first half, Pirates made it very difficult for us in the second half as they became more attacking," he said.

"This is where we need to learn how to use the space and score the third goal to make it easier for us. But this is a question of experience in my opinion, we will learn this. We were good in the first half on the counter attack, had good pace and it was a great game for 90 minutes."