Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Arthur Zwane believes his side did well to execute their plan to claim a 2-0 victory over Sekhukhune United at the FNB Stadium this past weekend.
Amakhosi returned to action in the DStv Premiership after they failed to honour their games against Cape Town City and Golden Arrows due to the recent Covid-19 outbreak in the Chiefs camp.
The Soweto giants were forced to field a much-changed Amakhosi side to play against Sekhukhune, after which they walked away with all three points through goals from Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Phathutshedzo Nange.
With the win, Chiefs leapfrogged Orlando Pirates into second place with 25 points from 14 games, 12 points behind log-leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who currently sit on 37 points after 15 matches.
Zwane was pleased with the overall performance of the squad, despite being forced into making six changes as Njabulo Blom, Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya, Reeve Froler, Siyabonga Ngezana, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Leonardo Castro were all drafted into the starting lineup.
“Look, I think we had a very, very good first-half but we knew second half that the energy levels would drop and we would start making mistakes and now we had to beef up the defence because we already had that advantage of scoring first,” Zwane told SuperSport TV after the game.
“So, as I said earlier on, this is a big league so if you get the opportunity to score first especially in the situation we find ourselves in as a team.
“Because we know that our players, as you could see last 20 minutes, you could see players cramping. Reeve was not even comfortable breathing. So, we had to make forced changes which is something that we anticipated.
“I think we executed the plan because that’s what we were expecting from them in terms of playing the ball to their centre backs and launching it forward because they’ve got good and quick players. So, we had to neutralise that. We had to allow them to do that and then as soon as the ball is played we drop centre. At the right moment to keep the ball because they are playing in departments. They only pushed three forward or they would only push one player forward with the hope that they will win the second ball and then the others join.
“So, ja, I think we planned very well and it worked for us. I’m so proud of the boys because I never thought they would play 90 minutes. Credit to the boys.”
