Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy says he is delighted to have claimed three points against Bloemfontein Celtic, but is not happy with the manner in which they claimed the win, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.
The Citizens came from two goals down to secure a 3-2 comeback victory over Celtic at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening, after Siphelele Mthembu and a brace from Surprise Ralani cancelled out goals by Ndumiso Mabena and Given Mashikinya.
The win sees City move up to eighth place on the Absa Premiership standings with 20 points after 14 matches played so far this season.
Although McCarthy labels his side’s comeback as ‘exceptional’, he was not fully satisfied with their overall performance on the day.
‘Typical South African football for you. A game of two halves, [Bloemfontein] Celtic first half 2-0, Cape Town City second half 3-0,’ McCarthy told the media.
‘I’m delighted with the win, but in the manner we won, not so much. I know I’m supposed to be happy and the comeback was exceptional, but [we forgot] the tactics that we done the whole week, how we planned and how we tried to eliminate a difficult footballing side like Celtic.
He added: ‘We were non-existent in the first half. We were sloppy, we let people come and spend their hard-earned money to come and watch us and were were already on holiday.
‘We were just heartless in the first half, so you could imagine what my team talk was like after the first half. I am not scared of anyone in the dressing room so I gave them what they probably needed to hear.
‘They can’t take people for a joke because there are hundreds and thousands of players without clubs, kids that want the opportunity and then these lot are fortunate they have the best job in the world, and then they go and perform the way they did.’
The 41-year-old coach believes that his players then executed his game plan to the letter as they dominated proceedings in the second half, following their below par displays in the first.
‘Luckily for me I’ve got honest players,’ he added.
‘Second half they did what they were supposed to do in the first minute of the game, that’s when we started to play accordingly to how we eliminate Celtic because they are a ball-playing side who want to come through the middle.
‘Mabena and [Menzi] Masuku are the frontliners of everything they had to do, and the minute we stopped the two of them from going through us like they did in the first half we could now rotate and use the width on the pitch to get the balls to Ralani for [Ebrahim] Seedat, [Thamsanqa] Mhkize to go on the overlap for people to get the balls in and behind because we got ‘Shaka’.
‘They are young guys, ‘Shaka’s got a lot of experience and he is powerful. That was the game plan which was non-existent in the first half, but the second half we came through and came out the way we were supposed too.’
The City mentor concluded by praising Celtic’s effort throughout the game to give the Citizens a run for their money.
‘I think, based on that performance, it was a little bit harsh on Celtic for their efforts and the struggles they’ve been going through, but I think we are deserved winners just based on the second 45 minutes because we scored one goal more than they did.’
‘They had the joy in the first half and they could’ve punished us, and the second half it was our turn. I’m happy with the result and I’m happy that the people got five goals, which proves that South African football isn’t as dull as it’s portrayed,’ Benni concluded.
