Chicken Inn burst Sundowns’ bubble

Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter—
CHAMPIONS Chicken Inn played with zeal to bring to a screeching halt South African Premiership log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns’ 19-match unbeaten run in all competitions on Saturday. The Gamecocks burst Sundowns’ bubble with a 1-0 win in the first leg of the Caf Champions League preliminary round played at Barbourfields Stadium.

Sundowns went into Saturday’s match with scary statistics of 15 goals in their previous five league games. Their last defeat had been a league match against Golden Arrows on September 12 when they went down 1-2.

The expensively assembled Sundowns were, however, humbled by the Gamecocks who were tactically disciplined and showed no respect or fear for their more fancied opponents.

Chicken Inn’s strategy of sitting deep and catching the visitors on the break paid off just after the half-hour mark when Michelle Katsvairo finished off a swift counter attacking move that was started by left back Devine Lunga and also involved Tafadzwa Kutinyu.

Lunga won the ball deep in his own half and released it to Kutinyu, who in turn fed Katsvairo and the former FC Platinum striker left Sundowns’ defender Wayne Arendse for dead before firing past surprise goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands.

Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas was full of praise for his charges for their disciplined showing. He said the 1-0 victory was a bonus for Chicken Inn as they were going for a goalless draw.

“To tell you the truth, we went out to try and play for nil-nil, but we managed to go 1-0 up against quality opponents like Sundowns,” said Antipas.

“It was very important not to concede because in Africa if you get a goal in the second leg, it counts as a double. I’m very chaffed by the win and proud of the boys because they maintained our tactical discipline. This is a good win for the team.

“We gave Sundowns the ball to play, but we closed them down in critical areas and the boys really put up a good show. In defence, we were solid, we didn’t give anything away and what we had asked of the players was to try and become heroes and they’re heroes today. We know that the second leg will be all fire so we just have to enjoy this moment,” he said.

The 2015 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Coach of the Year said Sundowns really missed their in-form forward Khama Billiat who watched the match from the terraces due to a hamstring strain.

“They missed a guy like Billiat who can turn the game on its head as an individual, but credit to our guys for maintaining our shape. We played more or less with one striker and five midfielders across and it worked well. About our goal, we knew Sundowns’ defenders haven’t got that pace so in the first half we tried to use the channels and Katsvairo’s goal was brilliant,” Antipas said.

Chicken Inn’s back four of Lawrence Mhlanga, Moses Jackson, Passmore Bernard and Devine Lunga gave good cover to goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, while captain Danny “Deco” Phiri did well to maintain the midfield shape.
The midfield had Phiri, Kutinyu, George Majika, Obidiah Tarumbwa and Edmore Chirambadare.

The usually offensive pair of Majika and Chirambadare rarely went forward as they kept tracking Sundowns’ wingbacks and in the process thwarted the visitors’ plan to attack from the wings.Antipas believes they can upset Sundowns in Pretoria in the second leg on February 27.

“The second leg will be a difficult assignment but I believe if the boys put up another good show like they did today (Saturday), especially tactical discipline, you never know because the ball is round and we could pull a shocker,” said Antipas.

Sundowns’ coach Pitso Mosimane said fatigue emanating from their congested domestic fixture schedule affected them. The South African league table toppers arrived on Friday afternoon having played a big league game that they won 2-1 against Orlando Pirates on Wednesday night.

“We didn’t have the legs for this match. We couldn’t even catch the rhythm. We didn’t have the energy to up it a little bit. The game we played on Wednesday was demanding and the Barbourfields Stadium pitch was heavy, we just didn’t have energy,” said Mosimane.

“We will see in the second leg. If we can control the game here, I think we can control the game at home and we need to take the chances. We didn’t create many chances, they played well and they played on a break and they’re dangerous when they break. That’s why I made sure that in the last 20 minutes I didn’t want those one-on-ones again just to keep it safe, so the 1-0 is ok.”

Mosimane said injuries to Billiat and Keegan Dolly had affected their plans. Billiat watched from the terraces while Dolly was brought on in the second half only to be replaced by Botswana international Mogakolodi Ngele.

“Khama could have played, but it was better to keep Khama because his hamstring is very tight and I couldn’t risk losing him for games to come. Hopefully he will be back for the second leg,” said Mosimane.