Youssef hails Kaizer Chiefs’ winning start to Premiership season

Kaizer Chiefs’ first assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef, standing in for the absent head coach Nasreddine Nabi, said he was pleased the team had started the season on a winning note after their 2-0 Premiership win over Stellenbosch FC at Athlone Stadium.

“We promised the AmaKhosi family a win, and we are also pleased for our coach and his wife. We are so proud of our players,” said Youssef afterwards.

“Our players played very well. We suffered a little bit in the first half because, after we scored following their red card, we thought that we had finished the game.

Playing against a 10-man opposition, Chiefs found themselves battling to contain a wave of aggressive attacks by Stellenbosch. This forced us to change our tactics in the second half.

“We did not foresee that we would be under pressure. In the second half, we changed a lot of things and did very well. You see, now the Khosi fans are happy as they go home. We have to start thinking about the next game against Polokwane City on Wednesday.”

Stellenbosch’s coach Steve Barker said red cards and penalties can make life difficult for any team.

“Red cards and penalties are something we do not want to be giving away, and unfortunately, we did that tonight," said barker. "After the red card, I thought our response was good.

"I felt that over the remainder of the first half, we were the better team. We were unlucky with the crossbar as some good shots hit the post.

“In the second half, I was hoping to hang in there, and maybe we would get a half chance, maybe a set piece – perhaps salvage something from the game. We will start thinking about our Wednesday game against hosts Magesi.”