Chiefs hosted SuperSport in the league at FNB Stadium just four days after outwitting Chippa United 3-0 in the Nedbank Cup last 16 at the same venue. Before facing Amakhosi, SuperSport had last played seven days earlier, where they beat Cape Town Spurs 2-1 in the same round of the Nedbank Cup at home and Nabi feels that gave Matsatsantsa an edge.
“It was a difficult game; from the first minute already you could see that it was a bad day for us. I can't give excuses all the time but I believe there's an excuse ... I see that we didn't have enough time to recover [we had] two days whereas SuperSport had a week at least,” Nabi stated.
“It's a deserved defeat for us. You could see that mentally we weren't up to standard ... we cracked, unfortunately. The result is painful for us.”
Nabi surprisingly withdrew winger Pule Mmodi, who had been their best player in recent games, for Mduduzi Shabalala in the 36th minute. The Tunisian reasoned that he felt Mmodi was tired and not in the game, adding he would have taken off at least six players if given a chance.
“It wasn't necessarily a tactical change. I noticed that most of the players were not in the game. If I had a chance to substitute six or seven players, I could have done it,” the Chiefs coach said.
“I could see that Mmodi has given a lot in a few past games and today already in the early minutes, I could see that he was not in the game and he was tired.”
Former Chiefs strikers Samir Nurković and Christian Saile scored two goals in the first half before Gamphani Lungu and Siphesihle Ndlovu added the other two in the second stanza, rendering Glody Lilepo's 30th-minute header a mere consolation. Chiefs played the last 21 minutes with 10 players after Gaston Sirino was sent off.
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Nabi blames fatigue for Chiefs' loss, admits they were not in the game
Image: Veli Nhlapo
As much as he admitted that they deserved to lose, Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi suggested fatigue played a role in Tuesday's 1-4 humiliation by SuperSport United.
Chiefs hosted SuperSport in the league at FNB Stadium just four days after outwitting Chippa United 3-0 in the Nedbank Cup last 16 at the same venue. Before facing Amakhosi, SuperSport had last played seven days earlier, where they beat Cape Town Spurs 2-1 in the same round of the Nedbank Cup at home and Nabi feels that gave Matsatsantsa an edge.
“It was a difficult game; from the first minute already you could see that it was a bad day for us. I can't give excuses all the time but I believe there's an excuse ... I see that we didn't have enough time to recover [we had] two days whereas SuperSport had a week at least,” Nabi stated.
“It's a deserved defeat for us. You could see that mentally we weren't up to standard ... we cracked, unfortunately. The result is painful for us.”
Nabi surprisingly withdrew winger Pule Mmodi, who had been their best player in recent games, for Mduduzi Shabalala in the 36th minute. The Tunisian reasoned that he felt Mmodi was tired and not in the game, adding he would have taken off at least six players if given a chance.
“It wasn't necessarily a tactical change. I noticed that most of the players were not in the game. If I had a chance to substitute six or seven players, I could have done it,” the Chiefs coach said.
“I could see that Mmodi has given a lot in a few past games and today already in the early minutes, I could see that he was not in the game and he was tired.”
Former Chiefs strikers Samir Nurković and Christian Saile scored two goals in the first half before Gamphani Lungu and Siphesihle Ndlovu added the other two in the second stanza, rendering Glody Lilepo's 30th-minute header a mere consolation. Chiefs played the last 21 minutes with 10 players after Gaston Sirino was sent off.
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