Chiefs had an opportunity to move above Pirates in the log standings but failed to walk away with all three points. Chiefs have not beaten TS Galaxy in the last five matches. This result has raised questions on Chiefs firepower in front of goal. Chiefs might regret their missed chances and Coach Arthur Zwane alluded that his team needs to do better going forward.
“I think first 10 minutes we started very slow but gradually picked up and we dominated the middle. We forced them to make mistakes. We were trying to press them and forced them to play the ball out, knowing that we tried to win the ball in the second phase and at some point, we managed to get it right because I think we created about 3 clear cut chances and 2 dead balls where we could have been more clinical. We could have scored at least 2 goals going into halftime.
“Second half I think we started very well but we took the foot off the pedal after they were one man down and we thought the game was going to be easy. We needed a little bit of creativity and that’s why I tried to bring in George because we were trying to play the crosses and I told them the only times Sekgota goes wide is because we wanted to stretch them, but we needed a bit of movement in between the central defenders and we didn’t do that quite often,” Zwane said post-match.
As coach Zwane mentioned his team had opportunities to put the game to bed. Keagan Dolly had his shot saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Vasilije Kolak in the first 11 minutes. They could have profited in the 17th minute as S’fiso Hlanti sent a header past the post, while in the 29th minute, Ashley Du Preez took a shot but missed the target.
Same story in the second half with Chiefs dominating play but struggling to find the net. Galaxy had their defensive blocks in check, forcing Chiefs to circulate the ball in the middle of the park without any threat.
Sinethemba Sithebe took a long range shot in the 72nd minute but went over the bar. Chiefs replaced Caleb Bimenyimana with Christian Basomboli to penetrate through the Galaxy’s defense and the striker had a chance in the 79th minute from a header but the ball was deflected and went wide.
With Pirates losing their game against Sundowns and Richards Bay losing against Swallows, this was Chiefs chance to overtake Pirates and trail Richards Bay by a point, but the Soweto giants missed out. Games are slowly coming to an end and Chiefs fans would love to see their club qualify for the CAF champions league competition but if Chiefs keep on messing up their chances they will be left to regret lost opportunities.
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