Hunt delighted with Chiefs pair
PRAISE: ‘FANTASTIC’ NURKOVIC AND ‘BRILLIANT’ CARDOSO
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Gavin Hunt singled out striker Samir Nurkovic and defender Daniel Cardoso for praise after his side picked up just their second DStv Premiership win of the season on Wednesday, with a 1-0 victory over AmaZulu at Kings Park Stadium in Durban.
Nurkovic got the only goal of the game and put in a fine all round display in his first start for Chiefs in over four months, while Cardoso excelled out of position in a defensive midfield role.
“Samir was fantastic for 90 minutes, we didn’t want to play him, but we only had one striker,” said Hunt, in reference to the fact that Nurkovic is still working his way back after a long time out and Leonardo Castro, Lebo Manyama and Khama Billiat were all out injured.
“As I have said, if you have a guy like Samir in your team every week (it helps). Last season he played the first 10 games and scored most of their goals,” added the Chiefs head coach.
As for Cardoso’s display, Hunt said: “Cardoso was brilliant in midfield. We are trying to work out what he is, a midfielder or a defender. In the long term maybe he is better there (in midfield).”
“Right now any win is a big win,” said Hunt on Chiefs’ overall display.
“We should have won a few more, but the table doesn’t lie… We had great chances but they were putting numbers forward and loading our box and there was space for us. Once a team is 1-0 up they typically sit in and there is space for two or three goals. It was a much better, more determined performance.”
Amakhosi’s next Premiership game is tomorrow, when they travel south to take on Cape Town City.
“It’s another away game, we have two away games in Cape Town, it is not easy down there, but thank goodness we will be out of the heat!” said Hunt.
Chiefs have five more league games to play this month, culminating in the Soweto derby on 30 January, where Amakhosi will be looking to avenge a 5-0 aggregate defeat to the Buccaneers in this season’s MTN8 semifinals.