It may have been yet another match which Kaizer Chiefs failed to win, but in their 2-2 DStv Premiership draw against TS Galaxy interim AmaKhosi coach Cavin Johnson could genuinely take solace in his sides performance.
Chiefs were forced to play the entire second half with 10 men and actually looked like a better unit once they had their captain Edmilson Dove sent off.
Dove first conceded a penalty with a hand-ball on the half-hour mark, before putting in a sloppy tackle before the break to receive his marching orders with the sides locked at 1-1.
Coming out in the second half, no doubt after a stern half-time chat with Johnson, Chiefs went ahead for the second time in the match five minutes after the break.
We played better with 10 men
When you get a red card again, you scratch your head and ask yourself what happened? Johnson told SuperSport afterwards.
Johnson went on to reference the humbling defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns last week. Quite poetically, Sundowns romped to a 5-1 victory over Chiefs to claim their seventh league title in a row in a clear demonstration of the gulf between the sides.
As Sundowns won the league with six games to spare, Chiefs are battling to hold onto their eighth place on the log with three matches remaining.
I thought we played better with ten men this week than last but this was a different team (we were playing).
I thought we had better chances than they (Galaxy) had when we had ten men and they had 11, he added.
Ranga Chivaviro scored both the goals for Chiefs, but could have easily bagged a hat-trick as he spurned a glorious chance late on during the contest.
After beginning the match on the back foot, Johnson was pleased how his team managed to work their way back into the clash.
The players worked hard and stayed compact, but when we did go on the break, Ranga (Chivaviro) had a very good opportunity to make it 3-2.
They missed two big chances in the first six minutes. But we came out of it, then we got a goal (for Chivaviro) when we pressed them and won the ball. They came back and got a pen, we made it 2-1 and I thought we had a lot of chances but we didnt defend a corner correctly and it was 2-2.
@Golfhackno1
IOL Sport
