Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef rued his side’s
wastefulness in front of goal, insisting they deserved all three points
despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Marumo Gallants at FNB Stadium on
Wednesday.
Despite taking the lead through a debut goal from new striker Khanyisa
Mayo and dominating possession, Chiefs were left to regret a series of
squandered opportunities. A saved penalty from Gaston Sirino and several
late misses proved costly after Jaisen Clifford’s spectacular long-range
strike leveled the match for Gallants.
“For us, I think we deserved to win this game,” Ben Youssef stated after
the match. “We managed the game; we were in control of the game all the 90
minutes. They didn’t have any situation to score. Their only situation was
a shoot from outside the box – it was lucky to score.”
The coach pinpointed the team’s failure to convert their dominance into
goals as the primary reason for dropping points. “When you play football
you have to finish… when you have the opportunity,” he lamented. “In the
last five minutes, we got three or four opportunities. We were unlucky;
the penalty was unlucky.”
While offering congratulations to a “very good” Marumo Gallants side, Ben
Youssef quickly turned his attention to the team’s next challenge, a
crucial CAF Confederation Cup match this Saturday.
“Now we finish this game and think about the next game, a very important
game for us,” he said. “I’m sorry for the fans today and we hope to make
them happy Saturday.”
