THE FUSE

By Dylan Bettencourt

Flavio da Silva put Kaizer Chiefs ahead but Stellenbosch FC came back with two goals to win 2-1 on Tuesday.

Khalil Ben Youssef said Kaizer Chiefs must now focus on Saturday’s Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates at the FNB Stadium.

Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef has apologised to fans after the team threw away a lead to lose 2-1 to Stellenbosch FC at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday night.

Flavio da Silva put Chiefs ahead in the first half. But Stellenbosch FC fought back after the break, with Langelihle Phili and Devin Titus scoring to hand Chiefs a painful home defeat in the Betway Premiership.

Ben Youssef did not hold back after the game. “We have to take responsibility for this loss, we have to say sorry to the fans,” he said.

He questioned why his side failed to put the game away when they had the chance.

“When you score the first goal, you have to finish, you have to dominate, you have to kill – finish when you get six to seven opportunities in the first half and miss all of them, even an empty net,” he said.

Ben Youssef said the first five minutes of the second half cost his side dearly.

“You dominate the first half, you must kill the game, and then in the second half you concede in the first five minutes. We have to see our mistakes,” he said.

With the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates coming up at the FNB Stadium on Saturday, Ben Youssef said there was no time to dwell on the result.

“We have three days now to think about the next game. We don’t have a lot of time to discuss this game,” he said.

He said keeping the players’ heads up was now the priority.

“In this tough moment, you have to think about the mentality of the players to keep them up – whether we win or lose, we continue to work. In a few days, it’s the derby. We have to start thinking of that now,” he said.

Pictured above: Kaizer Chiefs warming up at the FNB Stadium.

Image source: @KaizerChiefs