Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy believes his side didn’t turn up against Kaizer Chiefs following their 1-0 defeat at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.

The Citizens have now dropped to sixth in the Absa Premiership standings with 31 points after 21 games, trailing log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by seven points.

McCarthy admits that Amakhosi were the better side and he believes that they deserved to walk away with all three points on the day, following their dominant display.

‘Firstly, I want to give credit to Steve Komphela and his charges, you know. From the start of the game their intentions were clear, they pressed us very high. Obviously they noticed that Robyn Johannes wasn’t in the side and he’s the one that gets us going to play from the back,’ McCarthy told SuperSport TV.

‘So we had to change our tactics a little bit and go for the longer route, which didn’t suit us because we had short guys on the wings.

‘Too many players did not turn up tonight. This is a game where, if you want to win the league, you have to beat the bigger teams, the best teams. You can’t afford to have off-days.

‘Today we were nowhere near our best. We looked nervous and the guys were second best to everything. For me, if I’m honest and analyse the game, Chiefs deserves the three points.

‘We had our moments here and there but we made too many mistakes. We allowed them in. I told them we were going to lose the game by a mistake. Our defenders caught in two minds and Ryan Moon sneaks in and with the form that he is in, he puts those away. And then we chase the game. We were a little bit sluggish but take nothing away from Kaizer Chiefs,’ he concluded.

Cape Town City will be hoping to bounce back when they take on Bidvest Wits at Athlone Stadium on Saturday, with kickoff set for 18:00.

Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix