DURBAN – AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy realised that his side missed a good opportunity to win their game against Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday.
Striker Samir Nurkovic scored the only goal as Chiefs won the game at Kings Park in Durban.
“I am very disappointed because it was a tremendous opportunity for us to walk away with three points. Kaizer Chiefs were not in good form but they are a giant. When you play against a giant, you have to be clinical and put the ball in the net. Teams like Chiefs need one chance to punish you, which is what happened. The chance was due to a mistake from us. I’m very happy with the performance from the players and am happy with the way that we pushed them all the way while searching for the equaliser. We will continue to work as there are a lot of positives but well done to Kaizer Chiefs,” said the 43-year-old.
The result saw Gavin Hunt’s Chiefs side move up the league table to 10th with 10 points from their 10 games. The result would have been a massive confidence boost for the Glamour Boys as their only previous league win was against Chippa United in October.
AmaZulu are in ninth place with 10 points from the same number of games and ahead of Chiefs on goal difference. Usuthu will have a lot of work to do ahead of their KwaZulu-Natal derby clash against Maritzburg United on Sunday.
While Maritzburg endured a poor start to the season under Eric Tinkler, they have been a completely different side since the appointment of veteran tactician Ernst Middendorp in November.
It’s safe to say that Middendorp was hardly viewed as an inspired choice by the football community in South Africa due to his history of having coaching stints which do not last long.
However, he has so far proven his doubters wrong at the helm of the Team of Choice. They are on a two match winning run after having secured impressive victories over Kaizer Chiefs and Bloemfontein Celtic.