Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has explained why he decided to pull off Zitha Kwinika in the club’s 2-1 win over Casric Stars in a Nedbank Cup last 16 clash at FNB Stadium on Sunday night.
The win was far from pretty, but it means Amakhosi still have a chance of ending their seven-year trophy drought.
A first-half penalty by Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana and Ashley du Preez’s strike in the 63rd minute saw Chiefs book a place in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals.
However, there were a few nervy moments for Chiefs. Top of those was when Kgomotoso Mosadi of Casric scored the equaliser in the 60th minute to cancel Bimenyimana’s goal.
Zwane was disappointed by the goal as he wanted his troops to keep a clean sheet.
On a positive note, Bimenyimana found his goal-scoring boots, with Du Preez also looking sharp.
The converted spot kick against Casric was the Burundian international’s first goal in three months.
With the trophy-starved Soweto giants’ attackers steadily making progress, Zwane stated that there is room for improvement in all departments, more especially in defence.
WHY ARTHUR ZWANE TOOK OFF ZITHA KWINIKA
Anyone who watched Chiefs’ game against Amakhosi would assume Kwinika was hooked due to the error he committed. His defensive lapse led to the Motsepe Foundation Championship side scoring.
However, that is not the case. Zwane said the reason for Kwinika’s substitution for Happy Mashiane in the 69th minute was a precautionary measure.
Zwane revealed that defender Kwinika sustained a knock and was unable to continue the Casric game.
“It was a tactical change; we still had Solly [Dillan Solomons],” said Zwane.
“And apart from that, he looked a little bit uncomfortable. He was limping a little bit, so we thought maybe he will be fine.”
The Amakhosi coach admitted that he was disappointed by Kwinika’s error.
The 29-year-old defender has put in several underwhelming performances this season. A frustrated section of Chiefs’ supporters have been calling for him to be dropped.
On Sunday against Casric, he made a pass in the box, which was intercepted by Kgomotso Mosadi, who scored from a rebound after his first attempt by saved by Brandon Petersen.
“Obviously, I wasn’t okay and after that mistake,” added Zwane.
“I don’t think he [Kwinika] was going to be able to cope in terms of if it was an injury. So we had to make sure that we come up with a plan, and had to make that tactical change.
“We were okay just before we conceded the goal, and we made that mistake, which could have been costly.
“I believe we could have done better in terms of defending. We could have easily kept a clean sheet.
“We gave them the goal. They only looked dangerous from the throw-ins more than the corner kicks, and in open play. We made it difficult for ourselves.
“I hope we’re not going to continue making silly mistakes like the one we made that led to the goal.”
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