Kaizer Chiefs fans spent much of the weekend with chest pain after their side's loss to lowly TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup.
Except for an early chance that went wide, Chiefs laboured against a side rooted to the bottom of the DStv Premiership.
Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Peterson pulled off a few nice saves to keep TS Galaxy at bay, but couldn't do much in the 53rd minute when Phathutshedzo Nange's blunder gifted Augustine Kwem the opener.
Chiefs pushed for the equaliser, and nearly got one a few minutes later, only for Keagan Dolly to miss from close range.
It ended 1-0, and TS Galaxy went through to Nedbank Cup round of 16.
Baxter's team selection raised eyebrows in some quarters and the Amakhosi coach admitted his team was a bit rusty.
“We didn't play at any time with the quality we have. Our training this week had been first class, and I was certain we'd give a better performance than that,” he said.
Asked about the introduction of Samir Nurkovic and Leonardo Castro with just over half and hour left, and Lebogang Manyama with 20 minutes to go, Baxter said: “We didn't start Samir, 'Lebza', Leo for that reason — that they are off the pace in terms of 100% match fitness.
"We went with a slightly tweaked formation because we wanted to get our in-form players on the field. So 'Mshini' had that role in the pocket where he could drive in towards their defence from.
“We had 'Siya' [Ngezana] at right-back who would stay [back] a bit more and let Ntiya kick on forward. But again, even the in-form players didn't play with the quality we know they have. Basically we didn't show the quality we have.”
Amakhosi fans were deep in their feels about the loss and took to social media to vent their frustration.
Unlucky or time to ‘drop Baxter’? — Fans react to Kaizer Chiefs’ shock Nedbank Cup loss
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Kaizer Chiefs fans spent much of the weekend with chest pain after their side's loss to lowly TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup.
Except for an early chance that went wide, Chiefs laboured against a side rooted to the bottom of the DStv Premiership.
Chiefs goalkeeper Brandon Peterson pulled off a few nice saves to keep TS Galaxy at bay, but couldn't do much in the 53rd minute when Phathutshedzo Nange's blunder gifted Augustine Kwem the opener.
Chiefs pushed for the equaliser, and nearly got one a few minutes later, only for Keagan Dolly to miss from close range.
It ended 1-0, and TS Galaxy went through to Nedbank Cup round of 16.
Baxter's team selection raised eyebrows in some quarters and the Amakhosi coach admitted his team was a bit rusty.
“We didn't play at any time with the quality we have. Our training this week had been first class, and I was certain we'd give a better performance than that,” he said.
Asked about the introduction of Samir Nurkovic and Leonardo Castro with just over half and hour left, and Lebogang Manyama with 20 minutes to go, Baxter said: “We didn't start Samir, 'Lebza', Leo for that reason — that they are off the pace in terms of 100% match fitness.
"We went with a slightly tweaked formation because we wanted to get our in-form players on the field. So 'Mshini' had that role in the pocket where he could drive in towards their defence from.
“We had 'Siya' [Ngezana] at right-back who would stay [back] a bit more and let Ntiya kick on forward. But again, even the in-form players didn't play with the quality we know they have. Basically we didn't show the quality we have.”
Amakhosi fans were deep in their feels about the loss and took to social media to vent their frustration.
READ MORE
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Baxter explains reasons behind some of the selections in Chiefs' cup defeat to TS Galaxy
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