A Few Thoughts On: Kaizer Chiefs v Cape Town City
Kaizer Chiefs 3–0 Cape Town City
ABSA Premiership
FNB Stadium
12 January 2020
Kaizer Chiefs beat Cape Town City on Sunday at FNB Stadium to extend their ABSA Premiership lead over Mamelodi Sundowns to nine points. Amakhosi are racking up the wins and although it is only January, they are beginning to feel like champions in waiting.
The win over City was also the perfect end to Chiefs’ 50th birthday week.
How the game was won
From the two starting line-ups it was clear Kaizer Chiefs had a major size advantage in attack over Cape Town City.
Big Serbian striker Samir Nurkovic returned from suspension to join Leonardo Castro upfront and it was obvious Chiefs’ strikers would dominate with their height and strength.
It was a complete mismatch.
City’s back-two of Taariq Fieles and Edmilson, who is a converted fullback, didn’t have the size to compete with the Chiefs strike-force.
Chiefs duly scored from a cross three minutes into the game when Castro out-jumped Fielies to head in Baccus’ right-wing delivery.
However, Chiefs surprisingly did not continue with the same tactic. No more crosses were delivered into the penalty area for the rest of the first half and it was puzzling.
The tactics
It appeared Chiefs were caught in two minds.
Chiefs started with a 4–4–2 formation using a narrow midfield and fullbacks pushing forward to provide the width.
It was a classic Brazilian ‘magic square’ formation with two deeper midfielders — Willard Katsande and George Maluleka — shielding the defence and two attacking midfielders — Kearyn Baccus and Lebogang Manyama — in front of them with relatively free roles.
Movement-wise the tactic worked. Fullbacks Kgotso Moleko (right) and Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya (left) had acres of space to run into and initiate attacks.
However, Chiefs didn’t really use the space they had efficiently enough. Amakhosi often settled for sideways passes (they didn’t look to exploit 1 v 1 moments in attack) and when they did try to cross, the delivery rarely beat the first defender.
As a result, City’s overmatched defence didn’t really have much to deal with after the first goal.
Chiefs’ attacks were slow, unsure and sometimes messy with poor touches and communication.
It didn’t matter
Chiefs’ lack of cutting edge didn’t matter because Cape Town City were so poor; it was one of the worst team performances of this PSL season.
The Citizens didn’t seem to have a plan and they were lethargic throughout. There was no intensity or pressure on the ball and they allowed Chiefs too much time on the ball.
City also couldn’t take advantage of Chiefs’ defence pushing up which is one weakness Chiefs have been shown to have this season.
Because of Amakhosi’s high defensive line and fullbacks that push forward, the centrebacks (Erick Mathoho and Daniel Cardoso) can be exposed 1 v 1, especially in wide areas as they cover absent fullbacks.
This is what Maritzburg United did to Chiefs in their Telkom Knockout semi-final win through Judas Moseamedi. Orlando Pirates also had joy with angled balls over the top of Chiefs’ defence when the sides met in November but Pirates’ finishing was poor.
Cape Town City never capitalised, even though they have one of South Africa’s most explosive strikers in Kermit Erasmus.
Defensively there were also no adjustments. With Nurkovic or Castro often drifting out to the left wing, City’s rightback (Craig Martin) was often outnumbered 1 v 2 and sometimes 1 v 3 when Manyama joined in the fun.
The stamp on the game and its mismatches came in the second half when Chiefs scored two more headers to seal the match 3–0.
Observations from the game:
1. Samir Nurkovic is huge. It is clear to see why he has been such a big problem for teams and defenders this season. Nurkovic is built like a body builder. He is Chiefs’ top scorer with nine league goals and has been one of the big reasons for their success this season. He gives Chiefs a focal point and physical presence upfront that few PSL teams have.
2. Ernst Middendorp is doing a great coaching job. Chiefs have a good squad but Middendorp has maximised what he has. Chiefs have won 13 of their 17 games this season with basically the same squad that won just nine games all last season and finished ninth in the PSL.
3. Cape Town City are in a relegation battle. Former Dutch international Jan Olde Riekerink was hired in November to take over from Benni McCarthy but not much has improved.
They were shocking against Chiefs and the players’ effort was questionable. They are 13th in the ABSA Premiership, just one point above the relegation zone. If City continue to play as they did against Chiefs they will go down.
Conclusion:
Kaizer Chiefs have won 10 of their last 12 matches in the ABSA Premiership and they keep rolling.
Amakhosi have showed they have the flexibility to win in different types of ways and they still have Khama Billiat to come back from injury.
It is difficult to see Chiefs being caught in this form. Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits are still in the race, of course, but their assignments in Africa will make it difficult to catch a Chiefs team that is rarely dropping points.
