Cape Town City may have the bragging rights, but coach Eric Tinkler wasn’t satisfied with his team’s display in the 1-0 victory over Ajax Cape Town.
City grabbed all three points through a Bhongolethu Jayiya strike in the 21st minute following a superb cross from Thato Mokeke from the left-hand side to clinch victory in the first ever derby between the two clubs at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.
It was a welcome result for City, who last won a game on August 26 against Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 quarter-final, and it continues their unbeaten run at home.
But Tinkler felt that the newcomers to the Premiership nearly relinquished the victory as Ajax Cape Town poured forward in search of the equaliser. “I thought it was a game with way too many mistakes on our part, both offensively and defensively. We gave the ball away very cheaply and our clearances were poor. Allowing (Ajax striker Nathan) Paulse way too much time to win the headers and then picking up the second ball, which I explained before,” Tinkler said in a post-match interview with SuperSport.
“Towards the end there, we were allowing them to play the balls into the box, which was always going to be a threat and a danger. Then going forward, the chances you create, you don’t put it in the back of the net.
“We could’ve ended up possibly even losing this, never mind the draw. So, happy that we got the three points, but not happy because of the mistakes we keep making. And we need to eradicate that because if we want to go far in this league, we’ve got to get rid of that.”
City had a huge appeal for a penalty in the 88th minute as Jayiya was brought down in the box by Ajax defender Abel Mabaso, but referee Lwandile Mfiki refused to point to the spot. It appeared to be a clear-cut penalty, and Tinkler said it was not the first time that his team had been on the wrong end of such an appeal this season.
“Very entertaining for the fans, it was an end-to-end game. They had chances, we had chances, and it all came from the mistakes we made. I think we had a penalty towards the end, and that’s already the fourth one this season. So I’m querying that actually. Three points, but I’m not happy with the performance,” the coach said.
Ajax boss Roger de Sa rued the several chances that were missed in front of goal, but said that the loss of defenders Rivaldo Coetzee and Mosa Lebusa exposed his team at the back as they had to push forward for the equaliser.
“It could’ve gone either way. We had some chances and up until they scored, we looked like we were going to get a goal. We gave a silly goal away really, from bad defending, and then we pushed people up and they were very good on the counter. We threw everything at them and couldn’t get the goal,” De Sa said.
“It was a typical derby tempo, and some players rose to it and others didn’t. Hopefully it was a good spectacle, but we were disappointed in some of the performances.
“We lost two defenders to injury, and that’s always a bit of a setback. We adjusted and had three at the back as we pushed forward, but it didn’t go our way. Both Rivaldo and Mosa were hamstrings. It could be a while. Our first job is to withdraw Coetzee from the national team.”
Coetzee was named on Friday in the Bafana Bafana squad for the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso, which takes place on October 8 in Ouagadougou.
Ajax were scheduled to face Wits on Wednesday, but the match was postponed by the PSL as Wits are preparing for next Saturday’s MTN8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns. So the Urban Warriors’ next fixture is only on October 15 against Kaizer Chiefs in Durban.
City will travel to Tembisa to take on Highlands Park on Tuesday night (7.30pm kickoff) at the Makhulong Stadium.
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Independent Media