TOUGH TIMES Nasreddine Nabi acknowledged Kaizer Chiefs' struggles after a tough 2-1 defeat to Golden Arrows, keeping them eighth on the Betway Premiership table. Picture: Itumeleng English Independent Media
Image: Itumeleng English Independent Media
While Nasreddine Nabi sat and watched his charges lose another Betway Premiership match they dominated, the coach admitted after the match that the club was not in a good position.
That position, of course, is eighth on the table after 10 defeats in 23 games, with their latest being the 2-1 loss to Golden Arrows in Durban over the weekend. Chiefs had 11 shots to the seven of Arrows and also had 57% of the ball just for good measure.
With just seven matches remaining in the league, there is the chance that Chiefs could rise up the table significantly as their 29-point tally is only six behind third-placed Stellenbosch FC.
However, as the poor results continue to mount, that is becoming more unlikely.
“It’s a very tough loss today and hard to accept. It puts the club and team in a difficult position, and the fans of this club have no joy,” Nabi told SABC Sport as per iDiksi Times after the match.
Chiefs went a goal down in the 25th minute as Nduduzo Sibiya scored for Arrows. The visitors, though, equalised four minutes later through Yusuf Maart.
“We feel we controlled the game in the first half and could have scored as we were in a very good moment, but we didn’t,”
“The injury of Thabo Cele in the first half disorganised us a bit in the second half. In terms of liaising with the defence and attack, we didn’t start well in the second half.
The game was seemingly headed for a draw when Knox Mutizwa bagged what would be the winner for Arrows with 12 minutes left.
“But the changes we made made us come back into the game. Then we conceded a goal out of nowhere, and after that, it’s very difficult to come back from that.
“The fans of Chiefs need to understand… we feel we should have scored in the opening half when we had better moments and were positive to create better opportunities. When you don’t score, it costs us.”