Maduka not worried about Chiefs’ luck with referees ahead of Cup tie

Royal AM coach John Maduka says their Nedbank Cup quarterfinals opponent, Kaizer Chiefs are not to blame for benefiting for the referees.

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Chiefs have had a number of refereeing decisions – mostly correct – given for them, and giving them an advantage. 

In the past six games, Chiefs have finished the games playing against 10 men after the opponents had a player sent off. 

And in most cases this has happened in the first half. They have also had a few penalties awarded for them. 

But Maduka says it is not something anyone can do about it except the referees, adding that it has nothing to do with Chiefs. 

“At the end of the day, you can’t blame Chiefs for playing with an advantage…  

“That is because the decisions are not made by them, they just go there and play the game,” Maduka told the media this week. 

Anything can happen, says Maduka

“What’s for us is to focus because that happens in football whereby there can be red cards and penalties.

“We must be able to deal with that as professionals and our players should be ready mentally. 

“If you want to go to the next round you should be prepared for anything. Anything can happen at anytime against any team, so we must be able to deal with that.”

Royal AM host Chiefs at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban on Sunday in a Nedbanck Cup quatarfinals match that is expected to be a humdinger. 

‘Pressure on us’

Maduka feels the game is a final before the final for them because of the rivalry taht has developed between the two sides.

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“Chiefs beat us in the league game the last time we played against them. So, the pressure is on us. 

“For us to win the game, we have to dig deep because Chiefs are a good team… They are a very offensive team. 

“Whenever we play against Chiefs it’s like a cup final, so this one is no different, it’s a quarterfinal but it feels like a final already,” added Maduka.

But one of Maduka’s main concerns, besides Chiefs’ obvious luck with refereeing decisions, is that his team are leaky at the back.

“We haven’t kept a clean sheet in a while. In order for us to win against Kaizer Chiefs, we need to defend very, very well,” said Maduka. 

Chiefs have players who can be sharp on their day up front like Ashley Du Preez, Keagan Dolly and Christian Saile.