Muhsin Ertugral got off to a perfect start as Cape Town City coach when his side secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday.
Ertugral replaced Erik Tinkler this week and faced a tough match against Chiefs but his side managed to subdue the Soweto giants, thanks to Darwin Gonzalez’s 50th minute goal.
Both teams started slowly but Cape Town grew into the game with Chiefs struggling to break them down and with Amakhosi committing bodies forward, they got the goal against the run of play.
How did Cape Town sink Chiefs?
A swift counter attacking move saw Thabo Nodada split the Chiefs' defence with a stunning pass to put Gonzanlez through on and the winger found himself one-on-one with Bruce Bvuma in goal and made no mistakes.
Cape Town had a couple of chances to extend their lead but failed to find the target, having taken advantage of gaps left by Chiefs as they sought an equaliser.
Nasreddine Nabi’s men created a number of chances but failed to utilise them with Ashley Du Preez and Mduduzi Shabalala among the guilty parties.
Shabalala and Du Preez nearly combined to draw level late in the game when the former found the latter with a defence-splitting pass but he could not control the ball well, making the angle impossible to score.
Missed opportunity for Amakhosi
Cape Town would hold onto their lead to hand former Orlando Pirates coach Ertugral a winning start while Nabi will be left disappointed again.
Chiefs’ inconsistent season continues into the new year having finished 2024 with a win with hopes of starting 2025 in fine fashion.
Defeat saw the Glamour Boys miss an opportunity to get into the top four, remaining seventh, as victory would have seen them get ahead of Polokwane City on the league table, while Cape Town moved to 11th on the log with 14 points, just one less than Chiefs.
