Cape Town City’s interim coach Muhsin Ertugral says he knew Kaizer Chiefs leave a lot of spaces that can be exploited and that is how he managed to outwit them on Sunday.
The Citizens secured a 1-0 win over Chiefs in what was Ertugral’s first game having been appointed to take over from Erik Tinkler this week.
Ertugral admits he instructed his players to beat Chiefs on the counter-attacks after doing his homework on how Nasreddine Nabi’s team play and that is what happened when Darwin Gonzalez scored the lone goal in the 50th minute.
Ertugral happy players executed the plan
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 before firing home to the delight of Ertugral.
“The boys were unbelievable today, disciplined and organised because I knew against Kaizer Chiefs, you have these counter-attacks,” Ertugral told SuperSport TV.
“In the last third, last decision, combination, we could have gone to halftime with the lead. Chiefs attacking pattern and formation we knew it. It is a quality team but you can counter.
What did the veteran tactician work on?
“We could have got a second and third one on the counter. I am really proud of the boys today.”
The tactician also says he worked a lot on the setup of Cape Town, insisting on a collective team effort instead of relying on individual brilliance.
“What I saw in the beginning is that the team played in patches, so I wanted to play as a collective,” he added.
“I think we had synergy, that is one of the reasons why we could score through the counter. We had young players and if we can be patient, we can be very successful.”
Ertugral has a much bigger test in his next match as Cape Town take on title challengers Orlando Pirates on Wednesday.
