Duba hat-trick gives Kaizer Chiefs boost before Orlando Pirates derby

Kaizer Chiefs manager Fernando da Cruz says his side’s 3-0 Carling Knockout victory over TS Galaxy has restored confidence before Saturday’s Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates.

Wandile Duba scored a hat-trick at FNB Stadium on Tuesday as Chiefs ended a difficult run of results, which had included their elimination from the CAF Confederation Cup by Zambian club Red Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium last Friday.

The Amakhosi will face their biggest rivals at the same venue in the league on Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 3.30pm.

Da Cruz, however, said the victory over TS Galaxy did not represent his team’s best performance of the season.

“Yes, it’s the game that we wanted to win for confidence, but if you analyse well it’s not our best game. We have played better games before,” he said.

“In some games before we played better and had a lot of chances but we didn’t score.”

Duba’s goals ended a result that had left Chiefs under pressure, with their continental campaign brought to an early conclusion in the second preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup.

A few hours after that defeat, Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr issued a statement reaffirming the club’s support for Da Cruz. The Frenchman said that backing remained important as the club assessed its progress.

“You must know that I meet with the sporting director at least once every three or four months to speak about the team and the project,” Da Cruz said.

“The confidence that he has shown in us regarding daily work is very important. Even if we win, draw, or lose, we need to analyse the situation very well. In our meetings, we always speak about the way in which we can improve the team.”

Da Cruz also rejected the suggestion that the emphatic win over TS Galaxy had suddenly made him a better coach than he was during the defeat by Red Arrows.

“Today, I am not a better coach than last week because we were eliminated from Caf,” he said.

The Chiefs manager said the club’s board and sporting director had been able to observe the work being done by his staff, regardless of the team’s results.

“The board and the sporting director are there every day to see the commitment of the staff. When we analyse the situation, we feel we were unlucky with the draws because we deserved to win.”