Zwane praises ten-man Chiefs’ grit in Richards Bay win

Losing an influential player 30 minutes into the game was a big blow for Kaizer Chiefs in their DStv Premiership match against Richards Bay on Saturday night. 

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But Arthur Zwane’s side managed to hold on and won the match at Moses Mabhida Stadium 1-0 to record their second win in four games this season. 

The worry for Zwane when Yusuf Maart was sent off in the 30th minute was that his team may lose their confidence as they were coming from a heavy defeat in their last game. Chiefs had lost 4-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns the previous weekend.

“We knew we were playing against a difficult team who came into this encounter oozing confidence,” said Zwane after the match.

“They had done well in the games they had played, and we knew it was going to be tough for us. 

“We were coming from a difficult moment, in terms of our game before this one. We needed maximum points to get our confidence back and gain momentum,” added the Amakhosi mentor. 

Chiefs were all over Richards Bay when the unfortunate incident of Maart’s sending off happened. And after that, the momentum tilted towards to the Premiership’s new boys. 

“We started well and dictated terms – that’s how we want to play as a team. Although we didn’t create enough clear cut scoring chances, the few that we managed to create we didn’t use. 

“We knew that if we don’t use our chances they would gradually gain confidence and put us under pressure – be it from a counter attack or in another form. 

“That happened and we ended up being one man down. We now had to change the structure a little and go with a 4-4-1. 

“The boys did well. They kept the ball and that is what we wanted so that they can get frustrated because when they are frustrated they could easily lose their composure and we would punish them,” said Zwane.

“We got a penalty and we managed to score, but we could have scored one more from one of our chances to kill the game off.”