Zwane blames bad mentality for Chiefs loss to Chippa

Arthur Zwane was left upset and believing that overconfidence led to Kaizer Chiefs’ 2-1 loss to Chippa United in a DStv Premiership match on Saturday. 

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Chiefs could not get into the rhythm that had seen them win three games on the trot prior to the Chippa game at Moses Mabhida Stadium. 

And while they took the lead into the halftime break after missing a few chances, it was not to be for Zwane’s side with the Chilli Boys staging a late comeback in the second half. 

“We have ourselves to blame here,” said Zwane after the match. “This is one game that could’ve helped us keep our confidence sky-high. 

“But we let ourselves down big time and I hope we can learn from this,” added the Amakhosi mentor who looked disappointed.

Zwane felt his players took the Chilli Boys lightly and thought they would have a walk in the park and win easily. 

But what they have forgotten is how Chippa always mount a serious challenge against well-supported teams. And they were also looking for their third win in a row for the first time in eight years.

“I think we won the game before we even started. You could see at the beginning of the game we were a bit sluggish and we thought it was going to be an easy game.

“At halftime I had to jack them up a bit just to make them aware, because in the first half, even though we scored the goal, we didn’t dictate terms. 

“We didn’t show character and we allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do. If we had started the same way we started the second, we would’ve been better. 

“And had we put them under pressure and forced them to make mistakes like we did in the dying minutes, look at how many chances we created there…” 

The loss denied Chiefs a chance to jump to the top of the standings and they remain in fourth position with 17 points after 11 games. They trail leaders Mamelodi Sundowns who have two games in hand by two points.

Zwane said he hoped his players were learning from the mistakes they made and that they would come out more determined when they host TS Galaxy at FNB Stadium on Wednesday. 

Galaxy are another team who always give Chiefs some problems and look to upset the masses who support the Naturena side.