Kaizer Chiefs' Zwane unconvinced despite MTN8 victory: 'We did not make our lives easier’

Coach Arthur Zwane has claimed Kaizer Chiefs were 'hot and cold' and made their lives harder during the MTN8 quarter-final match against Stellenbosch on Sunday at the Danie Craven Stadium.

After a 1-1 draw in regular time, the Glamour Boys progressed to the semis as penalties from Cole Alexander, Keegan Dolly, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo, and Phathutshedzo Nange gave Amakhosi a 4-3 post-match penalty victory, but Zwane was not convinced with the general performance.

"It was a tough win," Zwane said in his post-match analysis with reporters. "We came to Cape Town knowing very well that we are playing against a good team and a well-structured team.

"We did not make our lives easy. We had to dig deeper and when you look at the overall performance of the boys, we were playing hot and cold and in patches.

"We looked like scoring at some point and we found ourselves wanting most of the time. Most of those things are ones that we can work on because it is a work in progress.

"It was a tight game as you could see how the goals were scored from mistakes by both sides."

The tactician also discussed the tactical changes made that pushed the Glamour Boys to victory against their Premier Soccer League opponents.

"You could see that it was going down to the wire, but as soon as we got the equalizing goal, I think it gave us hope and we looked like scoring another goal and killing the game," he added.

"We went to the extra time now and we had people with tired legs like Sifiso Hlanti because he has not been playing for some time. We had to bring in Happy Mashiane and Alexander in order to bring us stability in the middle.

"We pushed Siyethemba Sithebe a little bit higher. He is a number eight, but he could not finish as he started cramping in extra time. We also had to bring in Nange to help us in the middle.

"We brought a squad that was ailing a little bit, but we had to manage and make sure that we shared match minutes."

Zwane is, however, convinced they have time to work on their weaknesses.

"We knew our tactical endurance was never going to be up to scratch," he concluded.

"But we are happy we have gone through it and we can obviously fix many other things that we think we need to improve on.

"We have ample time to do that, though games are coming thick and first."