“I didn’t see this coming,” coach Steve Komphela reflected on the 2-1 loss to Platinum Stars on Sunday afternoon, before adding that “both teams played good positive soccer.”

It was Kaizer Chiefs’ second game at home away from home at the Cape Town Stadium. Amakhosi won the first game 2-1 against Bidvest Wits.

Chiefs looked set to settle the second match in the Cape of Love & Peace thanks to a first half goal by Camaldine Abraw. Stars, however, didn’t give up and their two goals in the final stage of the game handed them the three points.

Komphela lamented the missed chances, explaining that Chiefs’ video analyst had counted more than ten. “We need to convert chances,” the coach commented. “There was a lot of excitement in the opponent’s box, but we failed to finish.”

That’s the difficult aspect of a coach’s job. He can do a lot of things to help the team, but he’s not on the field to put the ball in the net.

Dikwena’s coach Cavin Johnson was brutally honest looking back at the game. “We stole it,” he admitted.

Amakhosi are still in fourth position, eight points behind Absa Premiership log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

That might not look good, but history has shown that things can change quickly during a league title race. For example, Chiefs were 12 points ahead of the Brazilians two seasons ago, before eventually losing the league title by two points. Thus, matters can easily change in Chiefs’ favour.

Komphela explained furthermore that Willard Katsande was left out of the squad against Stars in order to ensure that he wouldn’t collect a yellow card ahead of next week’s Soweto Derby. The Zimbabwean is on three yellows at the moment, which means that another one will result in an automatic suspension.

“Both central midfielders, (Reneilwe) Letsholonyane and Katsande would be suspended if they collected a yellow card,” the coach commented. “I didn’t want to take that risk.”

The Derby will be Orlando Pirates’ home game. The fixture will take place at the FNB Stadium on Saturday, 30 January (kick-off is at 15:30).