Kaizer Chiefs dealt fresh injury blow after Golden Arrows stalemate

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz has confirmed that Maboe suffered an injury during the goalless draw with Golden Arrows, adding to the club’s growing list of absentees.

The result at Mbombela Stadium meant Chiefs dropped points for a third consecutive Betway Premiership match.

Goalkeeper Brandon Petersen and Wandile Duba had already been ruled out earlier in the week before Maboe was added to the injury list.

Da Cruz said Chiefs had created enough opportunities to take control of the match in the first half, although Golden Arrows threatened on the counter-attack.

“We made a very good first half, normally we need to score one or two goals in the first half. But them also they had two or three transitions, they were dangerous in this situation,” Da Cruz told SuperSport.

The Chiefs coach felt his side lost some control after the interval, while acknowledging that Golden Arrows could have won the game late on.

“In the second half, we controlled a little bit less the game, but we had again situations and could’ve lost the game in the end with the last opportunities for Golden Arrows,” he added.

Da Cruz explained that Maboe’s injury forced a positional substitution early in the second half and affected the balance of the midfield.

“We changed position for position for Maboe, unfortunately this injury arrived a little bit early in the second half so after it imbalanced the midfield,” he said.

The coach said his other change was intended to give Chiefs a greater attacking threat as they searched for a winner.

“But also the other substitution was to win the game, we changed an offensive player to win the game because we always try to win the game but unfortunately today, we touched the post and other opportunities but didn’t score,” Da Cruz said.