Kaizer Chiefs head coach Molefi Ntseki has taken positives from the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns even though the results cost Amakhosi three points.
It was howlers by Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Petersen and midfielder Edson Castillo that helped Sundowns beat Ntseki’s men in a DStv Premiership game at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday.
Lucas Ribeiro Costa scored inside the first 25 minutes of the game from the resulting error from Castillo. But Chiefs found the equaliser through Ashley du Preez in the 84th minute.
However, Petersen’s error gifted Sundowns the win, with Neo Maema adding his name to the scoresheet in the latter stages.
And despite Sundowns dominating the game and enjoying most of the ball possessions with eight shots at goal, compared to the one of Chiefs, Ntseki said his men played well.
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NTSEKI OUTLINES THE POSITIVES FROM THE SUNDOWS DEFEAT
‘The positives from our side, you look at the structure we had, not giving them space in between the lines,” said Ntseki. “In the second half, we applied more pressure on the ball, which led to them making mistakes, and the mistakes ended up giving us chances to score.
“The positives from our team is that we stayed in the game despite the fact that we were not playing our normal game. Mentally, we were very strong and also defended as a team, which was very important. We created more half spaces than Sundowns.
“If you look at our game plan, in the first half, we gave them too much possession on the ball, which was not the plan. The mistake we made was to drop deep and allow them to dictate terms in terms of team play and playing through the midfield.
“When we came into the second half, we addressed two things at half-time, one: let’s put pressure on them, let’s not allow them to play through the midfield, and I think we did very well in the second half, taking control of the game.”
Ntseki and his charges will now shift their focus to the MTN8, where they will face Cape Town City in the quarterfinal away from home on Sunday.