Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has reflected on Kaizer Chiefs’ third defeat of the 2022/23 DStv Premiership season after losing 2-0 to Cape Town City.
City secured their first league win of the season with Darwin Gonzalez and Nathan Idumba Fasika finding the net in each half to inflict further misery on Amakhosi.
Zwane admitted they were disjointed in the first half, and while there were notables improvements in the second, the Citizens were well worth the three points.
“We allowed them time and space, we knew they wanted to put the ball behind [our defence], they are technically good to pin-point the runners, whether it’s Mashego or van Heerden if you give them that space and not track the runner, they will always get that space behind us,” Zwane said in the post-match press conference on Tuesday evening.
“They came with a different dimension where they put Lekay up front, where usually they play 10s like Mduduzi Mdantsane, so we did not win our battle, we struggled for the first 30 minutes, they were all over us – I think the last 15 we were better and created two chances. So we went to halftime with a goal down and we had to change things.
“They had three in the middle and we had four just to overload the middle and force them to come inside and it got better, I think we were just unfortunate not to get a goal early in the second half. I think the boys gave their best.
On where they can improve, Zwane said he feels his side are not ‘aggressive enough’ and their movement to break the lines aren’t up to standard yet.
“We were rushing, if we can be a little bit calm and wait for those moments, we’ll get better, those are the things we can work on as coaches, we have a team of youngsters, a few senior players who we want to help gel,” Zwane added.
“But it needs to come quickly because the games are coming thick and fast. You can see our backline, we’re trying to get the combinations right. If you look at our first game at home against Maritzburg, we lost two games before the Sundowns game and we had to shuffle the team.
“We have to get the chemistry right because the problem is when we try to fix one area, then another player new player comes in like we lost Yusuf [Maart to suspension], those are the challenges but this is not a train smash, we have enough time to [fix things], we’ll get there.”
The Soweto giants will now turn their attention to their MTN8 quarter-final against Stellenbosch at the Danie Craven Stadium on Sunday afternoon (15h00).
