After Saturday's 2-1 Soweto Derby loss to Orlando Pirates at FNB Stadium, Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz publicly blasted referee Luxolo Badi. The Frenchman said that Pirates played with 12 men rather than 11 because he was dissatisfied with various decisions made during the match.

Yanela Mbuthuma and Tshepang Moremi scored for the Buccaneers, securing all three points. Pule Mmodi was the lone scorer for Amakhosi. After losing their first game of the season, Chiefs dropped to fifth place in the Betway Premiership, while Pirates jumped to first place.

After the game, Da Cruz voiced his disapproval of the call that kept Pirates' first goal alive. In addition to thinking a Pirates player should have been sent off for a second yellow card in the first half, he thought Mbuthuma was offside when he scored.

The Chiefs coach felt his team's chances of winning the match would have been better had those calls gone their way. This made him even more irritated. Da Cruz claims that Amakhosi would have had a better chance of dominating the match if they had faced a team of ten Pirates players.

"The pirates play as twelve and not eleven," the Frenchman said.

After the first goal was ruled offside, a Pirates player should have received a second yellow card, which translates to a red card. After that, it's going to be 11 vs. 10, not 11 vs. 11.

Given the significance of the Soweto Derby, his remarks are sure to garner attention from both groups of fans. The refereeing decisions in matches between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs usually cause a lot of people to get angry, and now Da Cruz's criticism has just added fuel to the fire.

Nevertheless, the Chiefs coach couldn't deny that his squad had chances to seize the lead prior to halftime. Instead of letting Pirates stay in the game, he thought Amakhosi should have scored more goals in the first half.

Mmodi gave the Chiefs an equaliser soon after Mbuthuma scored, giving them an opportunity to gain momentum. But they couldn't keep up their offensive pressure in the second half.

During the break, the Pirates made some adjustments, and they started to play better after that. After a swift counter-attack, Moremi scored the winning goal, denying Chiefs any time to score an equaliser.

Da Cruz conceded that his team had trouble in the last 20 minutes, saying that inexperience and exhaustion hindered their performance.

We played a less dangerous game in the second half. Our exhaustion from the previous 20 minutes was evident.

"We might have let in a couple more goals, but it's not because the Pirates had any real opportunities; rather, we're just too exhausted and inexperienced to stop them in their tracks when we're in transition."

According to the coach's remarks, he thinks the loss was due to a combination of his team's collapse in the last minutes and the decisions made by the referee. But after the derby, his criticism of the referee will certainly be a hot topic.

As a result, Orlando Pirates now have 11 points, while Kaizer Chiefs are in fifth place with 14 points after nine matches. Pirates solidified their position atop the Betway Premiership standings, while Amakhosi suffered their maiden loss of the season.

Da Cruz must now direct his attention to assisting his team in moving past this setback and into next week's training. Despite his team's promising first half performance, the loss has driven home the significance of capitalising on opportunities and handling tough situations in high-stakes games.

Source: IDiskiTimes