Another Soweto derby looms large on the horizon, and Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter is happy to be heading to Saturday's league showdown against Orlando Pirates with morale in his camp high after a confidence-boosting victory against Baroka FC at the weekend.
Chiefs had to wait until stoppage time before Khama Billiant scored the only goal of the match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday, in a 1-0 victory that was their first of the year in all competitions.
The win moved Baxter's charges to second place on the standings and given the amount of pressure he's been under in the last few weeks, the Briton's excitement is understandable, especially ahead of a tricky date against the old enemy.
“I think the lads deserve a massive pat on the back for two reasons; one, because they kept going and kept on believing that we could [win], despite having, I think, 16 strikes on goal and eight on target, and still [could not] get our noses in front,” the Chiefs coach said with a relieved chuckle.
“But also because we have Pirates up this week, next game up, and traditionally it is always one you think the game before [the derby] 'will they take their eye off the ball?' On both accounts I thought we kept our discipline well.
“Now we can take the positives out of this [game], and I think there were many, and take them with us back to Joburg and the three points, and look forward to the derby [against Pirates].”
While Chiefs needed a last-gasp goal from Billiat to snatch all three points on offer, Baxter was happy to see his charges execute his plans perfectly at times, even though they could not find the back of the net at the end of their build-ups.
“We got in and our movement was quite good, especially in the first half. We created a lot of chances. In the second half we were getting down the sides, so we were crossing and we were producing some really dangerous situations
“But I think the lads deserve a big pat on the back because this was not an easy game. And it is just before the derby and we know how badly we needed to get three points on the night.”
Baxter explained the changes he made during the game and said he closely monitored Baroka before taking the plunge.
“Look, I waited because Baroka’s main threat was coming from them hoofing balls into our penalty area and they did it with some quality and some aggression. So, really I needed the three centre-backs, the three big lads to win the headers.
“But we just decided that because we were playing so well that we were going to go for it. So we put in more attacking players on the field. Take off a centre back, bring on Bibo [Sabelo Radebe] and Lebza (Lebogang Manyama) who would be pushing forward.
“I think they both had a bit of an impact. They both probed and at the finish we got the ball in and Khama was there as he had been all night without success. But this time he stuck it in the back of the net.”
TimesLIVE
Chiefs turn attention to Soweto derby rivals Pirates after dispatching Baroka
Image: Philip Maeta/BackPagePix/Gallo Images
Another Soweto derby looms large on the horizon, and Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter is happy to be heading to Saturday's league showdown against Orlando Pirates with morale in his camp high after a confidence-boosting victory against Baroka FC at the weekend.
Chiefs had to wait until stoppage time before Khama Billiant scored the only goal of the match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday, in a 1-0 victory that was their first of the year in all competitions.
The win moved Baxter's charges to second place on the standings and given the amount of pressure he's been under in the last few weeks, the Briton's excitement is understandable, especially ahead of a tricky date against the old enemy.
“I think the lads deserve a massive pat on the back for two reasons; one, because they kept going and kept on believing that we could [win], despite having, I think, 16 strikes on goal and eight on target, and still [could not] get our noses in front,” the Chiefs coach said with a relieved chuckle.
“But also because we have Pirates up this week, next game up, and traditionally it is always one you think the game before [the derby] 'will they take their eye off the ball?' On both accounts I thought we kept our discipline well.
“Now we can take the positives out of this [game], and I think there were many, and take them with us back to Joburg and the three points, and look forward to the derby [against Pirates].”
While Chiefs needed a last-gasp goal from Billiat to snatch all three points on offer, Baxter was happy to see his charges execute his plans perfectly at times, even though they could not find the back of the net at the end of their build-ups.
“We got in and our movement was quite good, especially in the first half. We created a lot of chances. In the second half we were getting down the sides, so we were crossing and we were producing some really dangerous situations
“But I think the lads deserve a big pat on the back because this was not an easy game. And it is just before the derby and we know how badly we needed to get three points on the night.”
Baxter explained the changes he made during the game and said he closely monitored Baroka before taking the plunge.
“Look, I waited because Baroka’s main threat was coming from them hoofing balls into our penalty area and they did it with some quality and some aggression. So, really I needed the three centre-backs, the three big lads to win the headers.
“But we just decided that because we were playing so well that we were going to go for it. So we put in more attacking players on the field. Take off a centre back, bring on Bibo [Sabelo Radebe] and Lebza (Lebogang Manyama) who would be pushing forward.
“I think they both had a bit of an impact. They both probed and at the finish we got the ball in and Khama was there as he had been all night without success. But this time he stuck it in the back of the net.”
TimesLIVE
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