Chiefs didn’t look like a team against Celtic – Mphahlele

Kaizer Chiefs defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele was not convinced that the free-kick from which Bloemfontein Celtic scored their winning goal in Saturday’s Absa Premiership match at Peter Mokaba Stadium was a good call, but he admitted they can’t use that as an excuse for their defeat.

The defeat meant Chiefs have gone five games in the league without registering a win and remain seventh in the standings, with their chances of being pulled out of the top eight heightened.

“It was bad. It was disappointing,” said Mphahlele after the match. Mphahlele called on the players to do some introspection to see if they are doing enough to help the team move higher in the standings.

“We can’t make excuses. We need to refocus and actually …. think if we really want to fight for this club because it was really bad,” said the 29-year-old former Moroka Swallows and Mamelodi Sundowns player.

READ: Chiefs coach feels let down by senior players

He said their first-half performance was so horrible that they had to have a discussion among themselves before going back into the change-room.

“We saw what we did in the first 45 minutes and before the coach could come and throw bottles at us we said ‘gentlemen, it’s not coming together but let’s try’. We didn’t look like a team and we were scattered all over the pitch and they were first to every ball. They bullied us.

“It was a bad night and we need to go and reset our focus and be ready for the next game. It was a bad game.”

Coach Ernst Middendorp was also unimpressed with the team’s efforts and hinted he might make some changes in the coming games.

He hit out at the senior players whom he accused of not pulling their weight or showing leadership in the team.

Amakhosi will, however, have to put the defeat behind them when they host relegation-troubled Free State Stars at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.

With two games left this season, Ea Lla Koto have collected 26 points but a win over Amakhosi could easily pull them to safety depending on other results at the weekend.

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