Hunt pleased with Chiefs’ victory over Petro
Hunt pleased with Chiefs’ victory over Petro

Posted in News, Team News on Mar 08, 2021.

Kaizer Chiefs recorded a vital win against Angolan sides Petro Luanda on Saturday at FNB Stadium. The win sees Chiefs remain very much in contention to still progress to the quarterfinals of the 2020/21 Champions League.

Coach Gavin Hunt who had to make a number of alterations to his squad as a result of injuries and suspensions was pleased by the collective effort of his charges. The Chiefs coach is now hoping that his team gains momentum going forward for the remainder of their league games as well as the Champions League, with fixtures piling up.

Reflecting on the win a pleased Hunt explained, “I thought we played well. I thought we played the same way we did against Horoya when we drew 0-0. It looked like another night when we were not going to score with so many opportunities. But we got three points and that was the main thing for us”.

Heading into the game, Chiefs were missing a number of players and made seven changes from the team that played Wydad in the previous game. Hunt was happy with the way his players managed to adapt to the team tactics in Saturday’s game.

“We never had a lot of players,” he emphasizes. “We had to play a few players out of position, and they did okay. I thought the whole team was very good. There were one or two that were very good, but generally, I thought the team collectively was very good’”

The objective for the Chiefs mentor now in the Champions league is to continue pushing on and reaching a certain target which could help with their aim of progressing further. “I think you need 10 or 12 points to get through,” he estimates. “We got four and we still got three games left. It’s not going to be easy, we got Wydad coming here. They are not easy as they are very experienced in the competition. We have to go to Horoya in Guinea, and we’ve got to play in Luanda away, so it won’t be easy for us but we will do our best.”

The Chiefs coach who registered his 380th career win as a top-flight coach, says he is happy to shift his attention away from continental matters to domestic issues. Chiefs return to domestic football with an important league clash on Wednesday against Maritzburg United away from home. He believes that Chiefs will need to be at their best to take defeat Maritzburg and begin to make a movement up the table.

“We are obviously falling behind in the league,” he adds. “Teams underneath us are winning, so we have a big game against Maritzburg, and we need points to get ourselves in a better position. It’s not going to be easy going down there that’s for sure.”

The win over Petro meant the Hunt has defeated them twice in African club competition. He also faced them in the 2013 CAF Confederations Cup as SuperSport United coach, where he beat them 2-0 on aggregate in a first round clash.

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