Kaizer Chiefs have been commended for their fighting spirit in the sold-out, entertaining Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates on the weekend.
Chiefs looked to be heading to pick up at least a point in the closing stages of the game against their perennial rivals, who are the title favourites along with Mamelodi Sundowns this season, only for an injury time penalty decision by the referee to deny them the draw.
Read: Late Drama As Pirates Silence Chiefs In Soweto Derby
Pirates' attacking midfielder Patrick Maswanganyi netted from the penalty spot after Chiefs' right-back on the day Njabulo Blom was adjudged to have fouled Relebohile Mofokeng in the 18-yard box.
1-0 was the final score as Bucs bagged all three points to take their tally to 30, sitting in second place on the standings, while Amakhosi remained on 21 points and fifth on the log.
Despite the loss, Chiefs have been lauded by former Pirates striker James Mothibi for their improved performance.
"It was a very good game of football as both teams played openly and no one was sitting at the back. The two teams attacked each other both in the first and second half and I have to give credit to Kaizer Chiefs in terms of how they organised their team by bringing in experienced players because it's not easy to win against Orlando Pirates. I'm not saying they won but that's what they were trying to do, and it was always going to be difficult because it's not easy to achieve that against Pirates. They (Chiefs) tried, and they did that well, but it was never going to be easy because of how good Pirates have been and how well they have been playing," said Mothibi, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.
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"Credit to Chiefs for how they frustrated Pirates until the 90 minutes. It's just that they lost concentration in the last minute and conceded a penalty. Talking about the penalty, that was a (legitimate) penalty. The Chiefs player (Blom) had his hand on Mofokeng, and it happened inside the box, and therefore that was a penalty. But we can't fault Chiefs for trying, they played well, and it's just that those things happen in football, like losing concentration at the last minute and things like that. Chiefs imposed themselves well and I think they are building a very good team. On the other side, Pirates missed a lot of chances that could have resulted in goals scored and (Tshegofatso) Mabasa needs to be more composed when facing the goal and he will do a lot better. In fact, all our players need to be more composed, including Rele who could have also scored from some of the chances created. But overall, the team played well and congratulations to everyone, including the players, the technical team, supporters and the management, getting three points is important," said Mothibi, who guided D'General FC to a 1-0 win over Central University of Technology in their ABC Motsepe League match in Bloemfontein on the weekend to remain top of the log.
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