Following his side's 1-0 win over National First Division (NFD)
outfit Black Leopards in the opening round of the Nedbank Cup on Sunday,
Kaizer Chiefs boss Stuart Baxter admitted that his team were given a serious
scare by their less fancied opponents.
Leopards put their visitors on the back foot early on and felt they could have
gone on to win the game, were it not for a late goal from Knowledge Musona in
the 110th minute that booked Amakhosi's spot in the next round.
"We've got a lot of work to do," Baxter said after the game at Peter Mokaba
Stadium in Polokwane.
"It was difficult for our lads to get themselves going, and they soon realised
they've got a game on their hands.
Leopards managed not only to subdue their Premiership opposition, but also had
several chances fall their way that could have been put away.
Chiefs struggled to assert themselves and found the going tough, as Leopards
dominated the midfield exchanges and forced the Glamour Boys into a host of
mistakes in their half of the field.
"Some of the things that went wrong today, there's no real excuse for," Baxter
added.
"If you drop off at the back and try to press in midfield, that becomes a
30-metre gap [between the defence and the midfield], then you're inviting them
into that space. That's one thing we need to work on.
"One of the things we have to work on is that we don't produce the spaces that
people can play in."
Leopards coach Kosta Papic, meanwhile, cut a frustrated figure at the end,
lamenting the fact that the hosts could have, and maybe should have, gone on
to claim the win.
"We did everything. Like I said before, we were going to fight, we were not
coming with any kind of respect [for Chiefs]," Papic said.
"One silly mistake cost us the game and we lost, but that is football.
"I'm disappointed. I must congratulate Chiefs, they were lucky to win the
match."
Currently fourth in the NFD, Leopards have scored the most goals in the
division, but struggled to find the back of the net. Papic put it down to a
lack of opportunities.
"When we came into this match, we wanted to show them what quality we have. I
hope the country realises that we are not afraid of anybody," he said.
"We've practised the same style for six or seven months, the same style. They
did it, but unfortunately we lost.
"We are scoring so many goals in the NFD because we are creating so many
chances. Today, we didn't create many chances and unfortunately we didn't
score."
The draw for the next round of fixtures takes place in Johannesburg on
Thursday.
Source: NCA.co.za
Tags : chiefs, ndf, leopards,psl