AmaZulu game to be more difficult than Pirates match – Middendorp

Lebogang Manyama scored the only goal of the match to give Amakhosi the Soweto derby bragging rights.

READ: Chiefs have quality – Zinnbauer 

But head coach Ernst Middendorp warned that they will have to be mindful of teams that are not in the race for the title.

With less than 10 games remaining to the end of the season, Amakhosi are at the top of the table with 48 points from 21 games, seven points ahead of second placed Mamelodi Sundowns who have a game in hand.

The Amakhosi coach says the League has always been Chiefs’ priority from the beginning of the season, but he won’t be taking out his calculator now with nine more games to play.

“We started going into the season with a very clear target. The League is the main one, the other ones (Cup games) are okay, they deserve respect too. I’m not going to start being a mathematician now and calculate or whatever. Let’s start preparing for the next game which is AmaZulu next weekend,” said the Chiefs mentor.

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“I believe it’s crucial to handle the teams that are not in the chasing pack for the League title, knowing teams like Baroka FC, AmaZulu or Polokwane City are all fighting for their lives in terms of staying in the League. So, that doesn’t make it easy, it probably makes it more difficult. but we have to put it into the same basket.”

This was Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer’s first loss in the League since his arrival at Bucs. The Bucs coach said it’s important to lift the morale of his players going into the next games. “It is different when you perform well and you lose or poorly and lose. What is important is to lift our heads,” he said. It was Pirates’ fifth defeat of the season.

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