Baxter left purring after Chiefs’ explosive first-half display

Kaizer Chiefs coach, Stuart Baxter was perplexed at how his team did not go into halftime of their DStv Premiership match against Baroka at FNB Stadium on Wednesday with a bigger lead.

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Chiefs started the game like a wildfire, and could have easily been five goals to the good by the 40th minute, had they converted their chances. Instead, they were only 2-0 up and were left with a tense end to the match after Baroka pulled a goal back in the second half.

Baxter was however impressed with the overall performance despite the lack of sharpness in front of goal.

“Our play in the first half… It has probably been a long time since FNB saw that quality of attacking football.

“The players were amazing… Our intent was amazing, how we went into halftime not leading by four or five is a mystery,” said Baxter afterwards.

In the second half however, his team had to survive some nervy moments with Baroka threatening to pull the rug from right under their feet. They managed to scrape through and earn their first full points of the season.

“There are things we will certainly have to work on. I like the three points. I’ll take some of the positives from our attacking approach to the game. But our attitude and staying focused in the here and now needs work to be done,” he said.

Baxter said he had to substitute Keagan Dolly, who was having a great game on his first start for Amakhosi, not only to rest him but also to deal with Baroka’s long ball approach by adding a taller more defensive-minded Akumu Agay.

“Keagan went in tonight, did a great job. Fantastic. Really pleased for him,” said the former Bafana Bafana coach.

“I didn’t think he would last as long as he did. The change when he came out was purely tactical. It was going long and I got the centre-back in, Anthony.

“Some of the lads have been out for a long while, some of the lads who need to know how we play. They’ll get there. I still think we’ve got 30 percent on top of what we showed tonight. And certainly, we’ve got 30 percent more to improve in our attitude in managing the game.”