Durban City take two-goal lead to Mauritius as Tinkler demands tactical improvement

Durban City will take a 3-1 advantage into Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup second leg against AS Port Louis 2000, but head coach Eric Tinkler says his side must eliminate lapses in concentration before travelling to Mauritius.

Haashim Domingo, Gaston Sirino and Tashreeq Morris scored at Moses Mabhida Stadium to give Tinkler his first victory since taking charge. The result puts the KwaZulu-Natal club within reach of the group stages, with the return match to be played at the Complexe Sportif de Cote d’Or.

Tinkler was pleased with the win but unhappy that his side allowed their opponents back into the tie. Louis Roussety capitalised on a defensive mistake to score in the 56th minute, while Durban City were also wasteful after the interval.

“As much as I’m happy with the win, obviously not entirely happy with the result,” Tinkler said.

“I definitely would have preferred a clean sheet against them. I think we were very wasteful, especially first half. Second half, yes, we got the second and then, you know, complacency set in. And that complacency, you can’t allow in this competition.”

The coach said a lack of concentration had affected both the team’s defending and its decision-making in possession.

“From complacency comes wastefulness, because it means instead of a good pass, I make a poor pass. Instead of a good cross, I make a poor cross. Instead of attacking the ball, I wait for the ball,” he explained.

“Do we want to be tourists or do we want to be locals? Because a tourist means you’re here for one week, two weeks, and then you go back home. We want to be locals.”

Tactical adjustments still required

Domingo opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a sharp finish, before Sirino doubled the lead shortly after half-time by dispossessing his marker and scoring.

However, Tinkler said the team was still adapting to a system designed around a squad without conventional wide players.

“Where we kind of lack in our squad is we don’t really have natural wingers,” he said.

“I played Hashim and Sirino, and both of them are not really wingers, they’re more midfielders looking to come and play in as 10s. So I’m adapting the team to a different system. Now that tactical organisation, understanding what your role is offensively and your role defensively, it changes. Good moments, bad moments today. Lack of discipline in terms of that, but it’s all new for some of them.”

Morris converted a stoppage-time penalty to restore Durban City’s two-goal lead, leaving the South African side in control of the tie.

Tinkler believes the squad’s technical ability can prove decisive in Saint-Pierre, provided the players follow the tactical plan.

“The quality that we have in terms of players, technically, very, very good,” he added.

“All of them are ballers, you know? So you’ve got to be able to give them a little bit of freedom, but at the same time, they need to understand tactical organisation. In this competition, you have to raise your standard. You can’t play the way you play in the PSL.”