Chiefs title hopes suffer setback but Da Cruz refuses to give up

Fernando da Cruz admits Kaizer Chiefs’ bid for the league title has become more difficult after their 2-1 Soweto derby defeat by Orlando Pirates, but the coach insists the race is not over.

Chiefs were beaten by their biggest rivals at FNB Stadium on Saturday, extending their winless run in league derbies to seven matches. The result also ended their unbeaten start to the league season and left them 11 points behind second-placed Pirates.

Bucs are one point behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played one match more.

“It [challenging for the title] is more difficult today after this game, but the PSL is a long journey,” Da Cruz said.

Chiefs have 21 fixtures remaining and their coach believes the return of injured players can help restore consistency. The team have drawn five matches since the start of the season, with Da Cruz claiming they should have won most of them.

“There are 21 fixtures remaining. When we recover our injured players, we will have more consistency in our performances, especially because we have played a lot of draws [five] since the start of the season,” he said.

“Normally we deserved to win those games, but due to our lack of experience, we did not. It will turn our side when we recover all our squad.”

Langelihle Phili, Khanyisa Mayo, Nkanyiso Shinga and Siphesihle Ndlovu are among the Chiefs players who have missed matches through injury this season.

‘Pirates played as 12’

Da Cruz accepted that Chiefs had failed to make the most of their opportunities before half-time, but he also strongly criticised referee Luxolo Badi’s performance.

He argued that Pirates’ opening goal, scored by Yanela Mbuthuma, should have been disallowed for offside. The Chiefs coach also believed Pirates defender Lebone Seema should have received a second yellow card and been sent off.

“The analysis is very simple and easy because we should have killed off the game in the first half, but we could not for two reasons: our lack of efficiency, normally we should have gone into the halftime break leading 2-0 or 3-0,” Da Cruz said.

“And then because Pirates played as 12, not 11, because also their first goal was offside, and then one of their players deserved a second yellow card. Normally he should have been sent off.”

Tshepang Moremi scored the winning goal for the Sea Robbers, while Pule Mmodi’s late strike was only a consolation for Amakhosi.