Chippa United fell by a solitary goal against Kaizer Chiefs in a tough game staged at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Sunday.
Mduduzi Shabalala scored the lone goal of the game in the 41st minute and despite the Chilli Boys' spirited fight in the second half, the Glamour Boys held on to get their fourth Premier Soccer League win in 10 outings.
One of the changes Chippa coach Kwanele Kopo made was in the 35th minute when he took off Ayabulela Konqobe.
Why was Konqobe subbed early in the match?
The 28-year-old was replaced by Tanzania international Baraka Majogoro in Kopo's bid to strengthen the defense. The left-back was unhappy with the changes, and he just walked into the tunnel.
His coach has since explained why he was forced to make the change early in the game, instead of waiting for the halftime whistle.
“It's unfortunate, it's something I always tell the players we never want to do but you also wonder if I leave him for longer it only gets worse,” he told the media after the game.
“So we apologized to him, he's upset, every professional player would be but it's a tactical situation we had to do.”
Nabi shares his thoughts after a hard-fought win
Meanwhile, Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has weighed on his team's display against the Chilli Boys.
“We needed to start on the front foot from the beginning, in the first half we were good, not very good but good, the only issue was to score the first goal and in the second half we played with fear.
“When you play with fear, you play with the handbrake, you don’t go forward or back, but it’s understandable, it’s psychological because the last results were not very positive and the players wanted so much to get three points that sometimes they felt like not going forward, just to sit back and defend. But after these three points, we are confident we can build from this.”
Chiefs' next game will be on Sunday, January 5 against Cape Town City.
