Despite moving to within one point of the top of the Absa Premiership table, Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy insists his side is not focused on the title race.
The Citizens claimed a massive 2-1 win over defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday night, with new signing Chris David scoring an 88th-minute winner.
The result saw Benni’s boys move into third position with 39 points, just one point off second-place Sundowns and table toppers Pirates, who are only separated by goal difference.
The Citizens have firmly placed themselves in the title race over the last few weeks, but McCarthy insists his team are running their own race.
‘We’re not greedy, we run our own race. We work day to day to improve ourselves, and to improve as a team and then collectively. Then, when we can pick up results, it’s good. But we don’t look at who is behind us and in front of us,’ McCarthy told SuperSport TV after the Sundowns game.
‘We only face ourselves, so for us it’s game at a time. We want to win every game, so every team who is going to come we are not just going to lie over, but make it as tough as we can.
‘And for us, three points is most important, we play for three points and if we don’t get them knowing we couldn’t beat a better side out there, then we accept it and move on.
‘But when we make comebacks like that, we know find ourselves among the pack and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.
‘We want to get the same philosophy of one game at a time. We only worry what’s on our plate, not on everybody else’s.’
Benni added that Downs, however, remain the team to beat in the title run-in.
‘That’s why this team has proven to be the best team in the league. They don’t make it easy for you and they have some quality players.
‘But I think when the mindset starts to kick on, then my team needs to understand that they need to show resilience.
‘And when you work harder than your opponents with the quality that we have, as much as they might be the top team in the league, but we know what we have as a team,’ the former Bafana Bafana striker concluded.
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
