Kaizer Chiefs can 'save season' after Marumo Gallants defeat – Nabi

Photo Credit - Kaizer Chiefs Media.

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi has explained why the club should not look at past performances, but stay focused on the future after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Marumo Gallants at FNB Stadium in the Betway Premiership on Saturday.

Despite taking an early lead, Amakhosi fell to Gallants, a result that dented their hopes of securing a top-eight finish in this season’s top flight. Glody Lilepo opened the scoring with a goal-of-the-season contender in the 10th minute, before Trevore Mathiane equalised in the 41st minute.

Gallants’ winner came in bizarre fashion in the 70th minute, as Daniel Msendami’s long free-kick from deep sailed over everyone and bounced into the net past Bruce Bvuma. The home defeat was Chiefs’ eleventh of the season, leaving them ninth in the 16-team league table with 30 points from 25 matches.

“My apologies for the delay of the press conference,” said Nabi after the game as quoted by iDiski Times. “It’s true that we talked with the players, because after such a difficult position we are in after today’s game, you see that everybody is down and there is a lack of confidence.

“Sometimes you feel like some are giving up. So what I told them is that there is no time to blame anyone or each other, or regret what happened, because the result like today cannot come back.

“We have two very important games ahead of us that can still save our season. The derby is coming next weekend and there is the final of Nedbank.

“Everyone needs to assess themselves with honesty and look at how he does in training and during games, and then we need to stick together and go into this coming week of preparation with our heads up.”

Winning next weekend’s Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates would go a long way toward securing a top-eight finish, while also boosting confidence ahead of the Nedbank Cup final, also against Orlando Pirates, on May 10.