Coach proud of ‘fantastic’ City

CAPE Town City coach Jan Olde Riekerink says he has a “special bunch of players” after his team’s 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Wednesday.

City have left a spell of seven games without a league win behind them with consecutive wins over SuperSport United and Chiefs. It has certainly shown the character of the squad to bounce back.

"I must give my team a fantastic compliment because I think they did a fantastic job. They can play football and what you saw the other day, could also fight for a victory. Special bunch of players. I'm very proud of what they did today. We've come from a very bad period and they have shown what they can do,” Olde Riekerink said.

"Chiefs have quality. They can go with the crosses and score the goals. They have good players. They are very dangerous in front of the goal.

“In the last 20 minutes it was more of a fighting game where we had to survive. But they did fantastic. Sometimes you play fantastic and sometimes you get the win in your pocket and leave.”

Meanwhile, neighbours Stellenbosch FC are still struggling. They have been playing an excellent brand of football, where they have pushed big teams like Chiefs and champions Mamelodi Sundowns only to concede at the death.

They managed to right that wrong in Limpopo on Wednesday when they kept a clean sheet against Black Leopards, but unfortunately were not able to find the winner to claim the much-required three points.

“I thought it not one of our best performances over the last five matches. It was a scrappy affair. Both teams started the game with a lot of anxiousness. We sort of grew into the game as the game went on. The surface wasn’t conducive to play the way we really want to play. The pitch made it difficult, but in saying that, we did create the better chances,” coach Steve Barker said.

“I think defensively we were really solid. We limited them to minimal opportunities. I was really pleased. We created enough chances to have won the game. It wasn’t that we did not take our chances, I thought their keeper did really well. The players did everything right.”

Both Cape teams are in action tomorrow with Stellenbosch hosting Bloemfontein Celtic at Danie Craven Stadium (3pm), and City facing Nedbank Cup finalists Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila at Cape Town Stadium (5pm).