Lack of composure costs McCarthy’s Citizens

THE ISSUES that hampered the progress of Cape Town City last season continued in earnest in a stuttering goalless draw with Golden Arrows at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

When City coach Benni McCarthy assessed his first season charge in May this year, he pointed to the team’s lack of composure in front of goal as a key weakness. If the Cape side is to be among the challengers in the Premiership, then it will have to start to convert possession and opportunities into goals on a more consistent basis.

As a player, McCarthy was South Africa’s most deadly goal-scorer – but, on Saturday, he could again just watch from the sidelines as his team squandered a few inviting scoring chances.

In the end, City had to be satisfied with the point. Needless to say, McCarthy was disappointed – and he knows there will have to be improvement this weekend when City host Mamelodi Sundowns in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-finals at the Cape Town Stadium (3pm).

“It was frustrating.” said McCarthy. “As a team, we keep the ball well, we move it around nicely, but fail to put the ball into the back of the net.

“And, yet, before the game against Arrows, I was confident that we could get the three points; the way the players had been finishing at training, I thought we were ready. So I’m disappointed with the lack of composure in key areas of our game.

“To be honest, we let Arrows off the hook. I think that game was one of the easiest three points for us. As such, in reflection, the draw is definitely a case of two points dropped. Arrows came to sit back, frustrate, and try to catch us on the counter – and their game plan worked.”

City haven’t had the best of luck with injury during this early stage of the season and they were again dealt a blow when winger Surprise Ralani, in gaining possession of the ball in the 60th minute, simply stopped as he broke down without even being tackled. The unexpected injury also created a problem for McCarthy with regard to his tactics for the rest of the game.

“When a player stops by himself without an opponent close by, then you know it’s probably something serious,” said McCarthy about Ralani’s injury. “We’ll let the medical staff deal with it and assess his progress in the week. “But, with Surprise having to come off, I had to change my thinking. He was replaced by Riyaad Norodien. There was perhaps an opportunity to bring on Teko (Modise) to slow things down, but, with Arrows’ counter-attack approach, I banked on the speed of Norodien and Craig Martin. But we’ve got Sundowns this week, and we have the opportunity to change things up, and Teko will be in the mix for Saturday: Cape Town City v Mamelodi Sundowns (Cape Town Stadium, 3pm) Sunday: SuperSport United v Kaizer Chiefs (Lucas Moripe Stadium, 3pm)