Sekhukhune United head coach Cedric Kaze made an honest admission regarding the tactical plan that fell short as his side suffered a 2-0 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the Betway Premiership at FNB Stadium on Wednesday night.
Babina Noko frustrated Amakhosi through a calculated, goalless opening 45 minutes—a tactical resilience that came as little surprise given Cedric Kaze’s inside knowledge of the opposition. Having served as Chiefs’ co-coach alongside Khalil Ben Youssef just a few months ago, the Burundian tactician knows the Soweto giants inside out.
In fact, 10 of the 11 Chiefs starters at FNB Stadium—with the exception of Langelihle Phili—had worked under him, as had every member of the substitutes’ bench barring Renaldo Leaner and Thabo Moloisane.
Kaze revealed that his technical team had gauged Chiefs’ mindset following their MTN8 exit at the hands of Golden Arrows, anticipating that Amakhosi would fly out of the traps in search of an early statement goal.
To counter that expected surge, the Sekhukhune coach deployed a low-block system built to starve Chiefs of space in wide areas and clog the central channels.
‘WE KNEW CHIEFS WOULD COME OUT IN A RUSH’ — KAZE BREAKS DOWN 2-0 DEFEAT
“We prepared well, and we knew that Chiefs would come out in a bit of a rush because of their defeat in their last game,” Kaze reflected. “We knew that we had to slow the game down and not allow them to get space, especially in the wide areas, stopping them from having 1v1 situations and closing the central lines.”
For the first half, the plan played out to perfection. Sekhukhune nullified Chiefs’ wing play and forced the hosts into hasty decisions around the box.
However, the dynamics shifted after the break. Fernando da Cruz’s men returned with renewed vigour, lifting the tempo and pinning Babina Noko deep into their own territory. Second-half strikes from Luke Baartman and Mduduzi Shabalala eventually shattered Sekhukhune’s resilience.
Kaze pointed to a combination of tactical passivity and physical fatigue—stemming from a gruelling 120-minute MTN8 fixture over the weekend against AmaZulu FC—for his side’s second-half fade.
“I feel like in the second half, we were a little bit passive while they increased the tempo of the game,” Kaze admitted. “But it is a well-deserved win for Chiefs; they played well in the second half. We didn’t start [the half] well, and we had a lot of heavy legs.”
“Unfortunately, we also suffered an injury to Vuyo [Letlapa late in the first half], forcing us to improvise because our regular left-back is already out injured. As a result, our block in the second half was not as compact as we would have wanted.”
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