Coach Tembo rues missed chances in SuperSport's draw against Leopards
While Kaitano Tembo is happy with his team's performance in the draw against Black Leopards‚ the SuperSport United coach believes his charges should have won the match as they created enough chances to wrap up the league encounter at Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday.
United went into the lead courtesy of a strike from Sipho Mbule in the 17th minute‚ but their celebrations were short-lived as Ovidy Karuru equalised for the Limpopo side 10 minutes later.
Tembo watched his charges spurn several opportunities to regain the lead‚ especially Mbule and DR Congo midfielder Guily Manziba in the second half‚ but eventually had to settle for a share of the spoils in the 1-1 draw.
“We started very well‚ had good combination play‚ especially in the midfield‚ where I thought we opened them up better‚” he said.
“We had a few opportunities in the first half and [had we taken them]‚ they could have helped make a difference [to the outcome of the match].
“But at the same time we did manage to score a goal [in the match].
“The goal we conceded‚ I think we could have done better and defended better. It was a two versus one situation where one [player] deals with the attacker and the other [provides] cover. That's how we got caught.”
While Tembo was left to count the costs of the draw‚ he conceded that there were also some positives — he will take a point won away from home.
“I am quite happy with the overall performance and I thought we played well.
“We had about 15 shots at goal‚ four on target‚ and that has been our biggest disappointment in front of goal [this season]‚" he said.
The 50-year-old Zimbabwean-born mentor blamed his side's lack of depth in some departments for the run of poor results.
“I am happy that Bradley Grobler got about 15 minutes to play‚ and he is not match fit yet. He will be able to get more minutes in our game against Swallows on Tuesday.
“It is not going to be an easy game‚ Swallows are currently doing well. They just got crucial points against Bloemfontein Celtic [and against Orlando Pirates in the Soweto derby on Saturday]‚" he said.
United last recorded a league win in the 2-1 home triumph against Cape Town City in February.
Matsatsantsa were tipped as one of the title challengers at the beginning of the season but after Saturday's result‚ they have slipped to seventh place on the standings and are 11 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns with six games to go in their season.