Chronicle Editor
KAIZER CHIEFS coach Stuart Baxter says the naivety of the players as the game went on was astounding but admitted he may have to take some of the blame for the loss as well.
Victor Letsoalo netted a brace for Thwihli Thwahla, scoring in either half before Sfiso Hlanti pulled a goal back for Chiefs in the last 14 minutes yesterday.
However, Amakhosi capitulated in the closing stages, as an own goal by Sibusiso Mabiliso and a stoppage time goal by Mfundo Thikazi gave Royal an emphatic 4-1 win.
“I think it’s not only a hard defeat, it’s an embarrassment. I think the first 20 minutes of the game we picked up where we left off [against Sundowns],” Baxter told SuperSport TV.
“The structure was good, the passing was good, we created a couple of chances but give away a silly goal again, the we chased the game, we have to chase the game.
“The naivety of the players as the game went on was astounding really and we never really looked like getting back into it
“You know we get a goal back, 2-1, we’ve changed about four different positions, then you lose a little bit of cohesion and you hoping you get fresh legs but we never really looked… our naivety again when we gave away the last couple of goals, when we were chasing the game.
“It’s not good enough and it’s embarrassing and I apologise to the supporters,” the former Bafana Bafana coach went on.
“We’re back to the same old… I thought for the first 30 minutes it was, we lost it towards the end of the first half because we started to chase the game but we had chances to score and put the game in a better position for us to play.
“But we don’t, we’re inviting them into the game, we’re making very naive decisions and that takes the game over to them and then we have to chase it,” he said. — KickOff
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