JOHANNESBURG - Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela says they will push for the Premiership title until the end following their 1-0 victory over Cape Town City at the FNB Stadium on Saturday night.
When asked if Amakhosi have a realistic chance to take the league, Komphela commented, “There are still nine matches to go, which means that there are still a lot of points to play for.
"This win is a great confidence-booster. But to be able to challenge for the league title, we have to dig deep. We are looking forward to push Sundowns to the end.”
Chiefs are on an excellent nine-game unbeaten run, including last week’s Nedbank Cup win over Golden Arrows. The last loss was on December 6 against Chippa United. Since, Amakhosi have won six games and drawn three.
“I am happy about hitting this run of form,” Komphela admitted, although, despite the win, he was not entirely satisfied. “We played very well in the first half and could have been 2-0 up at halftime, but that wasn’t the case.
“We needed to sort out some things during the break. Looking at the chances we got, we should have won 3-0. But we appreciate the win and will continue to improve.”
It was Ryan Moon’s second half goal that handed the Glamour Boys the victory. It was his fifth goal in the last six matches, an amazing achievement.
Besides netting the winner, the striker delivered another fine performance and was selected as the Absa Premiership Man of the Match.
“The guy is ready to pounce at every opportunity that comes his way,” the Chiefs coach said about Moon, before adding, “Leonardo Castro and Daniel Cardoso also did very well.”
Komphela felt that it was an entertaining game to which the opponent’s coach, Benni McCarthy, agreed: “It was great stuff with two teams going after each other.”
The Cape Town City coach also admitted: “We were second best.”
Thanks to the win, Chiefs have now moved into second slot on the log standings on 34 points from 21 matches. That’s four points behind log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, although they have one game in hand.
Chiefs will host Bloemfontein Celtic in another fixture at FNB Stadium on Saturday (start at 8.15pm).