Chiefs to up pressure — Komphela
Keeping the runaway Mamelodi Sundowns in check and stopping them from romping away to the league title will be all about pressure‚ says Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela.
But his first priority is to see that his team maintain winning form‚ he said after the 1-1 draw with Ajax Cape Town on Saturday.
“It’s all about pressure‚” Komphela said.
“We’ve got to win our own matches and put pressure on them to win all their remaining matches. That should be the perspective. Whether it is possible? Yes it is possible.
“Can they do it? Yes‚ they can‚” Komphela said.
“But they still have to! So we have to be in a position where we win our own matches and put pressure on them.”
Komphela said there could still come a time in the season when things started to go wrong for Sundowns‚ who are fourth in the Premier Soccer League standings, but are just three points from the top of the table and have a bevy of matches in hand over the other teams.
Sundowns have 32 points from 14 games and will only reach the halfway stage of their league campaign, on Tuesday when they meet Chippa United at home in Pretoria.
Chiefs are just two points above them on the log, but have played five games more.
“They are going to pick up suspensions‚ that is a dynamic in football. Some players will lose form; they are not machines‚ that is another dynamic.
“They are going to have injuries. God forbid nobody should suffer any serious injury. That is going to happen in football,” he said.
“Now based on all that‚ will they be lucky enough to get through all that? If they are and they keep up momentum‚ it will happen (that they win the league),” Komphela said.
“But if they are disrupted by the factors mentioned‚ their rhythm will be disrupted.
“But we can only cross that bridge when we get there‚” added Komphela.
Chiefs are on a seven-match unbeaten run, but after five successive victories, were forced to score a late equaliser for a share of the spoils at Athlone Stadium against Ajax.