CAPE TOWN CITY (0) 1
Gonzalez 50
KAIZER CHIEFS 0
MUHSIN Ertugral is back – evidently a little older now with the wrinkles much more pronounced and the hair pretty grey. But the fieriness remains albeit seemingly better controlled for his touchline antics were less pronounced than they used to be.
The celebration at the end of his victorious return to South African football after six years confirmed that the Turkish coach remains as passionate as ever, Ertugral meeting the final whistle with that trademark shout and double punch into the air before he hugged his players.
It is a victory any coach would celebrate with such gusto – beating your former employers. And to do it just a few days after he’d joined City following the sacking of Eric Tinkler will serve to somewhat silence those detractors who feel the local club’s recycling of coaches is bad for the game.
City have established themselves as Chiefs’ hoodoo team, the Citizens generally enjoying a better win ratio against Amakhosi. But such had been their wretched form which led to Tinkler’s dismissal that the outcome of this match was hard to predict.
And with Chiefs taking control of the match early on and being the ones attacking more, it appeared as though the Glamour Boys would turn the tables on a team that loves to beat them.
They had ample opportunities to take the lead in the first half, but Christian Saile continued to make a mockery of his billing as a striker as he ran hard without ever hurting the City defence.
It was young Mdu Tshabalala instead who asked questions of Darren Keet in the City goals with a good attempt on 16 minutes of a first stanza that produced little proper chances either way.
Ertugral’s ploy was clearly to play on the counter attack and it worked like a charm as the home team scored the match’s only goal this way.
As Chiefs pressed, the City defence managed to clear the ball with a long punt that found Darwin Gonzalez just over the centre line in the Amakhosi half and he ran full length chased by markers before toe poking the ball past Bruce Bvuma.
A raft of changes by Nasredinne Nabi helped in only giving Chiefs further control and helping them to continue putting their adversaries under the cosh.
But possession and attempts at goal count for nothing in a game that is all about putting the ball into your opposition net more than they do into yours.
And try as hard as they did, Chiefs found the City defence in uncompromising mood – their former player Lorenzo Gordinho making a number of crucial clearances to ensure Ertugral’s reign as the Capetonians’ technical director/coach got off to a winning start.
Next up for City and Ertugral is yet another of his former clubs – Orlando Pirates during the week. Win that one too and the fiery Turk will likely be given the freedom of the Mother City, right?