Kaizer Chiefs interim coach Arthur Zwane says it’s now “dog eat dog” in the DStv Premiership as the 2021-22 campaign slowly reaches its conclusion.
The Soweto giants finally ended their five-game winless run in the league after they edged out Marumo Gallants 1-0 at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday evening after Keagan Dolly scored the only goal of the game.
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Amakhosi are now up to fourth place in the league standings with 42 points from 27 games, trailing third-placed Cape Town City by two points and Royal AM in second place by three points.
“The first goal we scored this year [at FNB Stadium] was more of an ice-breaker, we needed it to boost our confidence as things have not been going our way,” Zwane told SuperSport TV after the game.
“As I said earlier, the more we play the more we’ll get better; yes, there’ll be those elementary mistakes that are costly sometimes.
“We’ll get that right, like today we kept a clean sheet which is a good thing. Playing against a team that is possession-based, always waiting for that right moment to play a forward pass,” he said.
“I think we were very disciplined today, we were very compact from the first half, I must give credit to the boys. Yes, we knew that at some point maybe we’ll catch them on one break attack and be able to catch them.
“Yes, it was not a game that was pleasing in the eye, the way we want to play but we had to grind the results.”
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Zwane went on to explain his substitutions in the second half:
“Baccus was a forced substitute, we felt we needed to push Keagan [Dolly] in the middle, take out Bibo [Sabelo Radebe] and [Bernard] Parker, bring on Cole [Alexander] to stabilise the midfield.
“Also knowing that we’ll get that space when we regain possession and we told Khama [Billiat] to drift outside when we are defending, so that we can create that one-vs-one situation as soon as we get the ball, give the ball to Khama.
“It nearly worked for us because Khama gave them a torrid time that side, it’s just that we didn’t have anyone to pick up the pieces inside the box but with time we’ll get there, steady but surely.
“This game was more of a confidence booster for us and an ice-breaker, so going forward maybe we’ll be able to collect maximum points, even if it’s gonna be a little bit scrappy.
“Because now it’s dog eat dog at this time of the season, everyone wants to qualify for the top eight, everyone wants to secure a spot [in Caf] and avoid relegation as well.
“So, we’re in a situation where we have to keep everyone on their toes, you look at a player like Khama, he gave his best today, he’s the only player who played four games without getting any rest, so we had to take him out and save him, we need him back and fresh for the [upcoming] games,” concluded Zwane.
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