Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef has apologised to the club’s supporters following their 2-1 defeat against Stellenbosch FC in the Betway Premiership on Tuesday at FNB Stadium.
The Soweto giants welcomed Stellies at home, searching for maximum points to remain within touching distance of the league title race with rivals Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, and Sekhukhune United. Chiefs quickly showed serious intent to win the match against Stellenbosch, creating a handful of scoring chances in the opening minutes of the encounter.
The Naturena-based side broke the deadlock in the 36th minute with a goal from Flavio Silva. Before the opening goal, Chiefs proved to be wasteful after missing big scoring opportunities that could have buried the game in the first-half.
Stellenbosch came from a goal down to beat Chiefs 2-1 after netting second-half goals from Langelihle Phili and Devin Titus to walk away with crucial three points away from home. This season, the Western Cape outfit has defeated Amakhosi three times after eliminating them in the Carling Knockout Cup and Nedbank before the recent win in the league.
In the past few weeks, Chiefs have suffered setbacks after crashing out of the Nedbank Cup and the CAF Confederation Cup, leaving the league as the only trophy left to fight for in the current campaign.
Their chase to the league title took a blow after dropping points against Stellenbosch. Chiefs are sitting fourth on the log standings with 30 points in 16 matches, and they are eight points behind Mamelodi Sundowns, who have collected 38 points in 17 games played.
WHAT BEN YOUSSEF SAID TO CHIEFS FANS AFTER STELLENBOSCH DEFEAT
Speaking after the disappointing results against Stellenbosch, Khalil Ben Youssef apologised to the fans while admitting that the opponents were better than them in the second-half.
“Firstly, I would like to apologise to our fans, wee are so sorry for this result. I think we dominated the first-half and we were better than the opposition team,” Ben Youssef said.
“We created a lot of opportunities, we missed a lot of chances in the first-half, we have to repeat what we always say, when you are better than the opponents, and you get the opportunity [to score], you have to score.
“We missed a lot of chances, we started the second-half very bad and we conceded a goal in the first five minutes, then we tried to make substitutions to add value to the team, but I think Stellenbosch was better than us in the second-half.
“They deserve to win this game, as I said, we have to apologise to our fans. Now we don’t have a lot of time to discuss, in three days we will have another game, and it’s an important game. We have to continue working and prepare for the next game.”
As they are looking to return to winning ways, Kaizer Chiefs will shift their focus to the highly-anticipated Soweto derby clash against Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium this coming Saturday, with three points and bragging rights at stake.
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