Posted in News, Team News on Nov 19, 2017.
“We had our chances to come back into the game,” Steve Komphela lamented after watching his side succumb to a 1-0 knockout blow at the hands of Bidvest Wits on Saturday.
“We had close to five opportunities to equalise and probably win it, especially in the second half.”
As a result of this loss, Kaizer Chiefs missed out on an opportunity to advance to the Telkom Knockout final.
“You could see with the early exchanges that we had all areas covered,” the coach added. “To suffer a red card in the first half in such an intense clash changed the game entirely. Besides that and to make matters worse, we let Wits score with a free header immediately thereafter due to a lapse of concentration.”
Wiseman Meyiwa was sent off after referee Victor Gomes spotted an infringement on Wits midfielder Daine Klate.
“Our game plan was affected by this,” said Komphela. “If you check our substitutions, they were all intended to go for an all-out attack.”
Gustavo Páez, Dumsani Zuma and Hendrick Ekstein were all brought on with the goal to add to Amakhosi’s firepower upfront.
“We came back strong in the second half,” Komphela pointed out. “Zuma had a one-on-one with Wits’ goalkeeper Darren Keet and he also hit the crossbar in the dying minutes. Páez had a chance as well."
“We knew the game was going to be very tight and robust. Unfortunately we had to play most of the game with one man down. But still, I thought we contained them well and scared them a few times in the second half.
“Now that we are out of the cup, we have to focus our attention on the league,” the Chiefs coach concluded. “We will regroup and make sure we beat AmaZulu on Wednesday.”
After the AmaZulu match, Amakhosi will host Free State Stars at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, 25 November (kick-off is at 18:00).
Tickets for Saturday’s Absa Premiership fixture can be bought at Shoprite/Checkers and Computicket at R60.
“We had close to five opportunities to equalise and probably win it, especially in the second half.”
As a result of this loss, Kaizer Chiefs missed out on an opportunity to advance to the Telkom Knockout final.
“You could see with the early exchanges that we had all areas covered,” the coach added. “To suffer a red card in the first half in such an intense clash changed the game entirely. Besides that and to make matters worse, we let Wits score with a free header immediately thereafter due to a lapse of concentration.”
Wiseman Meyiwa was sent off after referee Victor Gomes spotted an infringement on Wits midfielder Daine Klate.
“Our game plan was affected by this,” said Komphela. “If you check our substitutions, they were all intended to go for an all-out attack.”
Gustavo Páez, Dumsani Zuma and Hendrick Ekstein were all brought on with the goal to add to Amakhosi’s firepower upfront.
“We came back strong in the second half,” Komphela pointed out. “Zuma had a one-on-one with Wits’ goalkeeper Darren Keet and he also hit the crossbar in the dying minutes. Páez had a chance as well."
“We knew the game was going to be very tight and robust. Unfortunately we had to play most of the game with one man down. But still, I thought we contained them well and scared them a few times in the second half.
“Now that we are out of the cup, we have to focus our attention on the league,” the Chiefs coach concluded. “We will regroup and make sure we beat AmaZulu on Wednesday.”
After the AmaZulu match, Amakhosi will host Free State Stars at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, 25 November (kick-off is at 18:00).
Tickets for Saturday’s Absa Premiership fixture can be bought at Shoprite/Checkers and Computicket at R60.
