Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi believes his team made significant progress in closing the gap on perennial league champions Mamelodi Sundowns, despite their 1-0 defeat.
Lucas Costa scored the only goal of the Betway Premiership encounter at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium with 41 minutes on the clock.
Chiefs have twice previously faced the Brazilians this season, losing 2-1 in the first-round league fixture and 4-0 in the Carling Knockout Cup.
They put up a far more impressive showing this time around, but still ended up second best against the league leaders.
Nabi explained after the game that his long-term project at Chiefs is on still on schedule.
He said on SuperSport: “First of all, I would like to congratulate Sundowns for the three points. I feel frustrated for my players, the fans, and everyone that supported Kaizer Chiefs today.
“I feel that we had a strong performance that could’ve given us something better than what we got, but that’s football and we have to accept it.”
Nabi reflected on result against Sundowns, adding: “The first game, I believe that if it wasn’t for the referee’s mistake, we could have won 2-1.
“The second game in the cup, I would say that it was a complete off day for us and we were outclassed. Today’s game, it was bad luck to lose it after the performance that we had, but we have to put all those three games in context. In the context of a team that hasn’t won a cup in 10 years against a team that has been champions seven times (in a row) and is at the top of African football.
“Our team is in the process of building itself, and I believe that the prestige of our name, the players feel it. That’s why when you look at the league standings, there is a huge gap, but when you look on the field today, you couldn’t tell the difference. That’s why I believe that we are on the right track in making the team better and will have better outcomes in the future.”
Amakhosi are on eighth place on the league standings with 25 points from 19 games; 29 points adrift of Sundowns.