Kaizer Chiefs mentor Molefi Ntseki has implied that had his players kicked the ball out of play to allow Njabulo Ngcobo and Dillan Solomon to enter the fray in stoppage time, Mamelodi Sundowns wouldn’t have scored the suckerpunch goal.
“The best opportunity was us carrying the ball and securing the ball that led to the goal. When you look at how we wanted to close the game down, being aware that there’s six minutes added, the unfortunate part for us was not kicking the ball out to bring in players to close down the game...we gave away the goal at the wrong time,” Ntseki stated.
“That goal is a goal you’d never want to give away because you know that in this fixture conceding at home puts you in a very difficult position. We planned to avoid conceding.”
Just when Chiefs looked like the victors in the first leg of the MTN8 semifinals at FNB Stadium on Saturday, Sundowns snatched a crucial draw from the jaws of defeat, courtesy of Khuliso Mudau’s powerful header at the death. Mudau’s important away goal cancelled out Edson Castillo’s equally beautiful diving header that came in the 61st minute.
Before Mudau scored, Chiefs had lined-up Ngcobo and Solomon to come in to wind down the clock and close shop in a game where Sundowns hardly allowed them to have possession. The duo came in when the damage had already been done.
Ntseki didn’t hide his disappointment at how they played, highlighting it was a first half to forget for them as Sundowns were all over them in almost every department. At the end, Chiefs’ ball possession was 27%, while Downs enjoyed 71%.
“ [I am] very disappointed. This [the 1-all draw] wasn’t what we wanted and what we planned. The less said about the first half, the better,” Ntseki noted.
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