Benni McCarthy has once again lamented his side’s lack of finishing quality, saying they’re now stuck in the dogfight in the middle of the table instead of closing in on Orlando Pirates.
The AmaZulu coach saw his side waste several good opportunities in their goalless draw with TS Galaxy, which was already Usuthu’s 13th stalemate of the campaign.
The former striker explained that his players lacked conviction to find the back of the net and a laps in concentration also gave the opposition two good chances.
“Simple sum up: We weren’t clinical enough,” he said after the match.
“We started really well and I think dominated the game, making the opposition team make a lot of mistakes, intercepting the high press really good.
“But lack of conviction was the biggest problem of the night. When you don’t convert these chances – you get them and you miss them – then it becomes extremely hard and that was contributing to us not getting over the line, not winning the match.
“Because we must convert the chances, we did have first half a good few chances. Majok, once or twice, two or three chances, very good chances. Xola Mlambo had a chance.
“If you don’t take them, you give the opposition an opportunity to get back into the game and you start getting sloppy. We made once or twice crucial mistakes, allowing them a one-on-one with our keeper, with Veli. Luckily the quality of finishing in this game today wasn’t up to standard, so they also missed a few golden chances.”
The draw sees AmaZulu stuck on 27 points from 21 games, four behind second-placed Pirates, but with all teams around them having games in hand.
“13th draw, it’s not ideal, it’s not what I’d want, especially after such a good game on Friday, winning in CAF,” he added.
“This game could’ve put us nice there in third place, behind Pirates. Now you’ve played 21 games and just four points clear of everyone else.
“If other teams play catch up and they win their games in hand, they catch us and then we get dragged into that dogfight in the middle or down there.
“I think the players have to take more responsibility. When they go onto the field, you have to be clinical, you can’t let opportunities like this slip and we let a big one slip tonight.
“This was a game where we probably could’ve gotten easier three points more than any other game but it was not to be. Now we can focus and concentrate on Friday on the CAF Champions League.
AmaZulu now turn their attention back on the CAF Champions League group stages where they will host ES Setif at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday.
