Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler had high praise for the defensive shift his team put in during their CAF Champions League second leg preliminary round clash against AS Otoho in Brazzaville on Sunday.
City held the Congo Ligue 1 champions to a goalless draw at the Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat to advance 2-0 on aggregate to the next round. The Citizens had taken the advantage in the home leg the previous week at Athlone Stadium.
With goalkeeper Darren Keet in outstanding form, marshalling the City defensive back four that included local Congolese hero Nathan Fasika, the visitors managed to keep a clean sheet.
“I thought in the first 15 minutes they put us under pressure. It took us a while to come into the game, but I thought we were very solid defensively today,” Tinkler said.
“I don't think they really threatened us, they had a few shots which our goalkeeper had to save from far. They had one chance with the through ball, but our goalkeeper did very well to make the save. And I think our confidence grew as the game went on. Obviously fatigue comes from the heat, and we made changes in terms of substitutions and that brought more energy into the team.
“I could see they did not have any solutions in the final third. And we started to hurt them on the counter attack, and we had two great chances to wrap up the game which we should have.”
Tinkler, who is not allowed to sit on the bench during CAF Champions League matches due to not being in possession of a CAF A coaching licence, was critical of the artificial pitch as it forced his team to engage in aerial battle with AS Otoho.
“I think the bad thing is the pitch, because it doesn’t suit our brand of football. As much as it's an artificial pitch and it looks flat, it doesn't have a lot of fibres so the ball bounces a lot,” he said.
“In terms of us keeping the ball on the ground was very difficult, but the way they play, they plenty of long balls, and win the second balls, so we knew we had to try and prevent that from happening to stop the supply, and secondly we needed to win the first ball, so we had to be brave in our aerial challenge. And then look to pick up the second ball. I am very proud of my boys, as they performed very well.”
City’s next CAF Champions League second round preliminary clash is against last season’s semi-finalists Petro du Luanda. The Angolan outfit famously sent South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns crashing out of the CAF Champions League last season in the quarter-finals at FNB Stadium.