Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp believes the Fifa international break didn’t take much from their game, despite suffering their first defeat of the season.
The Glamour Boys’ unbeaten run in the Absa Premiership came to an end when they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat by Polokwane City at the FNB Stadium over the weekend.
Despite the defeat, Amakhosi remains at the top of the league standings with 10 points from five games, while Rise and Shine moved up to second place on the table.
Middendorp felt that the penalty they conceded in the 14th minute was ‘unconvicing’.
‘I thought we dominated the match,’ Middendorp told his club’s official website.
‘We had opportunities to score. I am not sure about the penalty we conceded. I have to watch the replay to have a position, but by the look of things it looked unconvincing.
‘I was never carried away by going four games undefeated. It is early and we are in the rebuilding stage of the team considering the new faces that we’ve in the team. We will continue to work hard and regroup before the next away trip to AmaZulu.’
The Amakhosi mentor credits Polokwane for only conceding one goal in the league so far while reserving special praise for goalkeeper Mwenya Chibwe, who walked away with the man-of-the-match award.
‘City closed us well but still we found some penetrations. Credit must go to their man-of-the-match goalkeeper for his performances, though,’ he added.
Middendorp believes that the Soweto giants were unfortunate not to be awarded two penalties of their own, despite protesting for the spot kick.
‘I thought we deserved something from the match, if you consider we had two big penalty calls. Especially looking at Khama’s incident, it was unfortunate we didn’t get that call.
‘The Fifa international break didn’t take much from our game. It is a matter of fact that a break has some impact, but it is part of the game,’ Middendorp concluded.
Kaizer Chiefs will be hoping to bounce back when they take on AmaZulu at the King Zweliyhini Stadium on 24 September, with kick-off set for 3pm.
