Chiefs coach Zwane happy strikers Saile and Du Preez scored in cup win

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has expressed delight at having both strikers Christian Saile and Ashley du Preez firing the extra-time goals that helped Amakhosi progress to the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup.

Chiefs beat Maritzburg United 2-0 at Harry Gwala Stadium on Friday, with new Democratic Republic of the Congo striker Saile netting his first goal for Chiefs in the second minute of extra-time before Du Preez finished the job in the second half of the added 30 minutes.

“I think for any striker it is always good when you score goals,” Zwane said of Saile, the striker that Chiefs bought from Zambian club Nchanga Rangers in the January transfer window.

“The good thing is both our strikers scored. Christian is a soldier of note and we expect more from him. He's got this never-say-die attitude and that's what we want. He never stops running and he never stopped working hard on and off the ball. That's why he ended up scoring.”

On his debut for Chiefs two weeks ago pacy, muscular Saile came on as a substitute and showed plenty of promising touches including setting up a goal for Du Preez, who has battled to score regularly since signing for Amakhosi from Stellenbosch FC at the start of the season. 

Zwane said he was also particularly happy for Du Preez who was got a lot of flak from Amakhosi supporters for the number of chances he missed in Friday's match. 

“I'm happy for 'Ash'. I wanted to see Ash scoring to boost his confidence. I think he also played very well. He was chasing on and off the ball — he did tremendously well. 

“I always remind them [the strikers] you create your own luck and keep on working hard and you'll always be rewarded, and they were rewarded today. Both of them scored and we're happy.”

Chiefs wasted many opportunities to wrap up the match in 90 minutes. Amakhosi could not take their chances even when Maritzburg had been reduced to 10 men after skipper Travis Graham was shown a red card five minutes before halftime for two dangerous fouls on Mdududzi Shabalala.  

“We started like a house on fire, we created quite a few chances early in the match and the keeper [King Ndlovu] kept them in the game,” said the Chiefs coach.

“The plan was not to allow them to have time on the ball in the first 15 minutes. We pressed them high and forced them to make mistakes and it worked.

“But we were not clinical taking our chances. The good thing is we kept a clean sheet and managed to score two goals.”

Their place in the last 16 secured, fifth-placed Chiefs turn their attention back to the DStv Premiership where they meet 13th-placed Lamontville  Golden Arrows at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane next Sunday.

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