Kaizer Chiefs caretaker coach Arthur Zwane knew what was at stake before Amakhosi beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 3-2 in a DStv Premiership encounter at the FNB Stadium in Nasrec on Wednesday evening.
This was Amakhosi’s first match since they fired Gavin Hunt for poor performance last week.
‘Look, we came into this game knowing very well the importance of grinding a result. They came into the game oozing confidence knowing very well since we’re not doing well as a team they stood a good chance of collecting maximum points,” Zwane said.
“So I think planning for this game was to allow them to come at us. Give them confidence to build from the back. They’ve got players with speed, who are comfortable on the ball. We allowed them at some point to dictate terms in the middle of the park.”
This was a vital win for Amakhosi as they moved from 11th to ninth position on the Premiership table with 33 points from 29 matches. They are now left with one match, which is away to eighth-placed TS Galaxy. A win over the Rockets will see them finish the season inside the top-eight bracket.
“We are only left with one game and we will treat it with respect. We will also prepare for it like this one. Obviously, with a slightly different approach,” the former Chiefs midfielder said.
“We are playing against a team that has got players who are hard runners. They use a lot of energy to make you get tired and exploit the spaces.”
Meanwhile, Arrows coach Mandla Ncikazi congratulated Amakhosi for bagging the three points.
“Congratulations to Kaizer Chiefs. I thought they gave us a good fight. We can’t take that away from them. Respect to them and the brand,” Ncikazi said.
“I thought we created enough chances first half to win. I thought we had the better of the chances and we defended badly. If you defend like that, you are not going to win football matches.”
