Kaizer Chiefs coach Zwane impressed at how Ngezana has bounced back

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane is happy defender Siyabonga Ngezana has bounced back from his blunders that were a feature of his game early in the season and become a “solid” player again. 

Ngezana has met with criticism from Amakhosi’s supporters for his defensive errors that contributed to the club’s inconsistent run this season. 

The Chiefs development product was one of the players who was blamed when the Soweto giants were at the wrong end of a 4-0 DStv Premiership drubbing by Mamelodi Sundowns in August. 

Ngezana had other moments where he looked shaky but bounced back strongly recently and on Saturday put in a solid shift in Amakhosi's 1-0 victory against 10-man Richards Bay at King Zwelithini Stadium.  

The 25-year-old scored the goal that kept Chiefs in the race for a second-place finish in the Premiership and was the man of the match.

“On Ngezana, I always say football is a game of mistakes and once a player makes a mistake and we bury him are we helping the game grow in this country?” Zwane said. 

“We have to look at ourselves. Many other players who were exceptional also made big mistakes that were costly, but they came back strong. 

“Even when I was a player, I made mistakes and I was still given the opportunity to play football because football is a game of opportunities. 

“I’m happy for Siya and he looks solid of late and I expect him to continue that way.” 

Though Chiefs did just enough to win against Arrows, Zwane believes they could have done better considering they had a numerical advantage from the 19th minute after goalkeeper Salim Magoola was sent off. 

“We started off brightly and were promising to get a goal at any given time, but fortunately we got a goal from a dead-ball situation. 

“From there I think we created another two, three or four chances and we could have maybe increased the scoreline and we didn’t punish them. 

“They got a red card and I think after that we took the foot of the pedal a bit. We didn’t put them under pressure any more. 

“I believe had we done that consistently, we were going to get a good chance of scoring more goals. 

“In the second half we played in patches again. We had some promising moves in the final third where we could have capitalised but we couldn’t take our chances.” 

Chiefs now prepare to face Casric Stars in the Nedbank Cup last 16 at FNB Stadium on Sunday, March 12 without suspended defender Zitha Kwinika and striker Christian Saile.