Nabi wants more from Chiefs after impressive win over Chippa

It turns out Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi is a difficult man to please. 

Even though Amakhosi scored three well-taken goals during their 3-0 Nedbank Cup last-16 win over Chippa United at FNB Stadium on Saturday, Nabi felt they could have done more. 

Chiefs booked a place in the quarterfinals — joining sides that include Orlando Pirates, SuperSport United, Durban City, Marumo Gallants and Stellenbosch FC there — through goals from Gaston Sirino (13th minute), Inácio Miguel’s penalty (77th) and Pule Mmodi (89th). 

It was a win that got Amakhosi’s supporters excited as they played strong, attacking football for most of the match but Nabi said he wanted his team to dominate Chippa more. 

“I wouldn’t say this was the best game since the beginning of the season,” he said. 

“We felt that at some point, and especially during the last 25 minutes of the first half, we didn’t have control of the game. We let Chippa come at us with long balls and we knew they were going to do that. 

“We believe we can improve when it comes to those little things and going forward manage to have full control of the game for 90 minutes and more. When we have a team that decides the tempo of the game, we will be a consistent team and we believe we are going in the right direction.” 

Though not entirely satisfied with the performance, Nabi acknowledged it was a good win to take Chiefs to the next round of the tournament. 

It was also a good morale booster considering Amakhosi host SuperSport United on Tuesday in a Premier Soccer League match that usually produces excitement. Matsatsantsa coach Gavin Hunt was at FNB Stadium to watch Chiefs on Saturday. 

“It is a good win against a difficult Chippa team. We feel after the first goal, we lost control of the game a bit but we tried to rectify in the second half and we were much better defensively and offensively. 

“I want to thank the players for their commitment. We are starting to have a big collective mindset into how to look for victory and play together.” 

Visiting coach Thabo September said the defeat means Chippa can focus on the second half of the Premiership to fight for survival as they sit in 11th spot with 18 points from 15 matches. 

“We start with Cape Town City away from home [at Athlone Stadium on Tuesday] and we must focus on that and make sure that when we play at home we stamp our authority on those games and try our best to collect maximum points. 

“There are also opportunities to win games away from home — we did it against Magesi, which was our first away win [4-1 on February 5].

“We have to shift the mentality too, when we go away. We need to step up now and start getting maximum points at home and away.”