Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi expressed his satisfaction with his team’s gritty 2-1 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership on Saturday, acknowledging the resilience required to secure the win.
The match, played at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium, saw Arrows take an early lead through Nduduzo Sibiya, who netted in the 25th minute. However, Kaizer Chiefs quickly responded when Yusuf Maart converted from open play in the 29th minute, following his earlier miss from the penalty spot.
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With the score tied at 1-1, it was Knox Mutizwa’s 78th-minute strike that ultimately proved to be the match-winner, handing the home side all three points.
Mngqithi took time to commend the performance of Kaizer Chiefs under the guidance of coach Nasreddine Nabi, acknowledging that their tactical approach caused problems for his team.
However, he also highlighted the areas where Chiefs faltered, particularly in the attacking third, where mistakes allowed Arrows to capitalize.
“We must also give credit to them. I think we started the game quite well and they came at us, [but] they made some silly mistakes in the attacking third,” Mngqithi said in his post-match interview with SABC Sport.
“There were moments where we really suffered in this game more, especially in the dying stages of the first half, which is what prompted me to start making those changes, [David] Lukhele was injured unfortunately, and he had a very good game.
“Then immediately at half I thought we must change a little bit in the midfield so that we can match the tempo of the opponents.
“I think our second half was much stronger, the first half chances were mainly created from our high press and they struggled to breakthrough and we got some very good chances that we did not use.
“We were unfortunate even in the second half with some breaks that we got, I don’t think we did enough to make sure that it ends up in a goal because we were getting behind them, how many cut backs we were trying on the right without succeeding, even now [Velemseni] Ndwandwe beats the opponent, because he was tired, Knox is in the cut-back position with no midfielder but unfortunately we have to accept that these boys have worked very hard and we must give a lot credit to them.”
The result left Abafana Bes’thende in 10th place with 27 points from 20 games and Amakhosi in eighth place with 29 points from 23 games.