Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela says the manner in which his side lost the Soweto Derby to rivals Orlando Pirates on Saturday was far from typical of a team with the best defensive record prior to the match.
“It was completely uncharacteristic of us,” he said as Amakhosi’s 3-1 defeat meant they had let it three for the first time this season.
“We don’t concede too many goals and today we conceded three, and obviously against a good team. I thought we did well in the first half. We scored an equaliser. I thought we made a mistake with Pirates’ first goal. We should have cleared the lines a bit earlier, but we got ourselves an equaliser from the set play, which we knew there would be possibilities from there.”
Komphela was unimpressed that goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was beaten again just seconds into the second half.
“We conceded far too early. And it gave Pirates the momentum. Another error in the second half was that we were not as close, our pressing was not as tight as in the first half. The minute you don’t press tight enough, you loosen up and they find spaces behind you, and you suffer,” the Amakhosi coach explained.
Chiefs dropped to fifth place in the Absa Premiership table and now trail log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by eight points with seven matches remaining.
“It could have been 3-3 or otherwise. But we also didn’t take our chances. We regret the day – it must have been nice for neutrals and Pirates fans. But for our fans, we just feel sorry that we played well but couldn’t win the match.”
@superjourno
IOL Sport