A place in next season’s MTN8 competition is what Amakhosi got after their slender 1-0 win over a plucky TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday
Kaizer Chiefs stand-in coach Arthur Zwane conceded that the club should be setting a higher target than a top eight finish.
Samir Nurkovic’s 26th minute goal enabled Chiefs to leapfrog Galaxy into eighth place on the final day of the season.
However, such is the tight nature of the log that in the penultimate round of matches in midweek, when Chiefs secured a 3-2 win over Golden Arrows, they had still been in danger of getting sucked into the relegation fight.
The Glamour Boys hardly threatened against Galaxy and capitalised on an error to score the game’s only goal. And on the day it was the home side who made more of the play.
“We have been travelling a lot as a team,” Zwane said in his post-match interview with SuperSport TV.
“We went to Venda, we came back, we played on Wednesday and we knew that our energy levels would drop too soon. So we had to try manage the game, more than to play pound for pound, because Galaxy are a very good team.
“Yes they gave us a run for our money. But I give credit to the boys, they had to dig deeper, they gave their level best even when you could see they couldn’t run anymore.”
Together with the team’s other assistant coach Dillon Sheppard, Zwane has been in charge for the last two matches, following the dismissal of head coach Gavin Hunt.
While relieved to have made the top eight, he admits it’s not what a team like Chiefs should be celebrating.
“They kept on pushing until; the end. All we wanted was to pick up the maximum points, to be in the top eight. Though that’s not how it’s supposed to be for a team of Kaizer Chiefs’ calibre. But yes, we had to scrape through this one just to be in the top eight.”
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