While delighted to see Kaizer Chiefs advance to the Nedbank Cup semi-finals, it is in the bread-and-butter of the Premiership that Ernst Middendorp wants his team to eradicate their mistakes this weekend.
The Amakhosi were too good for Benni McCarthy’s Cape Town City outfit in the quarter-finals on Sunday, beating the Citizens 2-0 at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday.
Hendrick Ekstein opened the scoring for Chiefs, before Dumsani Zuma secured a last-four spot with a clinical finish in the box.
But having done the job in the cup, for now, Chiefs will look to climb up from their seventh position on the Premiership log when they take on Baroka FC at the FNB Stadium on Saturday (6pm kickoff).
Middendorp’s team are seven points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns before Masandawana’s Monday night clash against Orlando Pirates.
“It’s important to now prepare for Saturday’s match against Baroka, because we want to get into a good position on the log,” the German mentor told the club website.
“If you check the form guide, taking into consideration the last eight league games, SuperSport United and Cape Town City are on 16 points, while we are in third position with 15 points.
“It means that we are not too far off and doing well looking at those eight games, especially when you consider that we lost matches that we shouldn’t have – they were lost due to some errors.”
On the win over City, Middendorp said: “I am happy with the result and the good performance. It was like a chess game. It became a matter of reading the opponent. We prepare for all the teams the same way. We really executed our game plan well.
Thank you for the amazing support today, Amakhosi Family. To the semi-final we go! ❤️&✌️ #HailTheChief #Amakhosi4Life #NedbankCup pic.twitter.com/lq9F9QRcrJ
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) March 31, 2019
“I therefore think that a compliment should go to everyone who was involved with the preparation and execution for this encounter. Everybody did what they were required to do.”
Chiefs will face Chippa United in the semi-finals, after the Chilli Boys outlasted Wits 5-3 on penalties after the match ended in a dramatic 4-4 draw.
“I saw them play when they beat Wits on Saturday. I don’t read too much into Chippa’s low position on the log – they are a good team,” Middendorp added.
@ashfakmohamed