SLICK MOVE
Chippa’s 11th-hour thriller
CHIPPA United appeared to have dropped maximum points to SuperSport United approaching regulation time, until Thabo Rakhale pounced to even matters in a lively PSL clash at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Saturday.
United had trailed Supersport the entire match after Thabo Mnyamane gave the Pretoria outfit the hope of maximum points when the game was only nine minutes old.
For almost the entire match Supersport United appeared to have registered a rare win at Chippa’s slaughter house.
Chippa coach Vladislav Heric was a relieved man after the game. Delight was written all over the face of the Serb during the post-match interview after his team notched up yet another draw.
“I have to take that one point because we were one goal down and there was a penalty against us which could have ended the game. At the end of the day if you score the equalising goal in the last minute – you must take the point,” he said.
“The good thing is my players gave their best – because we’ve had a difficult trip to Bloemfontein and the players were exhausted.
“For instance, you could look at Rakhale. He was struggling a bit and he scored in the second half. Paseka [Mako] also struggled a bit.”
Heric said he hated playing draws at home and his players’ mandate from next season if he is still at Chilli Boys is that they had to win all of their home games.
“In general I don’t like to draw at home. At home you must win. No excuses, because if you win all matches at home you have 45 points.
“And then if you don’t win, the next game you play away, you have to recover your points. So if we had put together 45 points at home this season, you see where we could have been by now.
“But the players tried to stick to the game plan, and that’s very good, and at this point I’m happy with my players.”
He said having a two-weeks break before playing their last league game against Polokwane City would kill the players’ momentum.
“It’s not on and nobody knows why we are not playing this coming weekend, because people are fighting relegation.
“Some teams are fighting for top eight. It’s game on for relegation and that’s not a joke, but I’ll refresh my players, because they are definitely tired,” he said.
SuperSport United caretaker coach Kaitano Tembo said his charges started well, and they created better chances than the hosts, but it was not meant to be.
“We put them on transition a couple of times, and with a little bit of luck and good decision making and choosing the right options we could have scored more goals today.
“And I think we deserved to win the game, because we played very well, and I think we played more forward, while they played sideways.”
Tembo said nothing short of a win would suffice when they play their last fixture this season against Baroka at home.
“We need to win that game in order for us to survive [relegation], and I think it’s important to work on our decision making in the final third.” he said. .
“Also the quality of the passes and options that we choose, and that’s what leads to goals, and I think today we could have done much better in that regard.”