Bloemfontein Celtic's 2-1 victory over SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership match on Tuesday has eased pressure on coach John Maduka for now.
It is understood that Maduka was given an ultimatum to win that match, and had he lost, he would have been fired, according to our sources.
But the victory means he will stay on to fight for another day as goals from Reagan van der Ross and Motebang Sera in each half handed Phunya Sele Sele all three points at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium.
Maduka, who was pleased with the results, is aware that he will need more of the same in the next coming matches as his future is not yet safe.
Before the SuperSport match, Celtic had a poor run, only registering a single victory in eight games, and that was a 1-0 win over whipping boys Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.
“What we did was to make sure that we take the game to them and again at the same time, we try and defend well,” Maduka told the club media department after the game.
“First half, we managed to get into the final third, and we created a couple of chances that if we were more clinical, we would have scored more goals.
“But our decision-making was not up to standard. In the second half, we continued from where we left off, and we created chances, but at the same time, also keeping the balance at the back, we knew that they are a team where they will always punish you on transition.
“We managed to deal with that. We defended well until that moment when we got a goal. After scoring a goal, we knew that SuperSport would come all out, and they did exactly that.”
Maduka believes the victory will improve confidence in the team. He will hope to build on that when they host Chippa United on Saturday (3pm).
Meanwhile, SuperSport coach Kaitano Tembo was not pleased with his side's performance during their defeat. “We had a sloppy start, especially in the first half ... we kept giving the ball away cheaply, and we couldn’t go forward,” Tembo told SuperSport media department.
“But we had our moments where we could have done better, especially in the final third in terms of how we should have used the ball. But the second half, we did not have a good start. We gave away a soft goal, and that put us a little bit on the back foot."
Coach's future not safe as Phunya Sele Sele gives him ultimatum
Celtic win a relief for under-pressure Maduka
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Bloemfontein Celtic's 2-1 victory over SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership match on Tuesday has eased pressure on coach John Maduka for now.
It is understood that Maduka was given an ultimatum to win that match, and had he lost, he would have been fired, according to our sources.
But the victory means he will stay on to fight for another day as goals from Reagan van der Ross and Motebang Sera in each half handed Phunya Sele Sele all three points at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium.
Maduka, who was pleased with the results, is aware that he will need more of the same in the next coming matches as his future is not yet safe.
Before the SuperSport match, Celtic had a poor run, only registering a single victory in eight games, and that was a 1-0 win over whipping boys Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila.
“What we did was to make sure that we take the game to them and again at the same time, we try and defend well,” Maduka told the club media department after the game.
“First half, we managed to get into the final third, and we created a couple of chances that if we were more clinical, we would have scored more goals.
“But our decision-making was not up to standard. In the second half, we continued from where we left off, and we created chances, but at the same time, also keeping the balance at the back, we knew that they are a team where they will always punish you on transition.
“We managed to deal with that. We defended well until that moment when we got a goal. After scoring a goal, we knew that SuperSport would come all out, and they did exactly that.”
Maduka believes the victory will improve confidence in the team. He will hope to build on that when they host Chippa United on Saturday (3pm).
Meanwhile, SuperSport coach Kaitano Tembo was not pleased with his side's performance during their defeat. “We had a sloppy start, especially in the first half ... we kept giving the ball away cheaply, and we couldn’t go forward,” Tembo told SuperSport media department.
“But we had our moments where we could have done better, especially in the final third in terms of how we should have used the ball. But the second half, we did not have a good start. We gave away a soft goal, and that put us a little bit on the back foot."
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