Da Cruz maintains Chiefs are making progress but bemoans leaking ‘stupid’ goals

As much as he’s disappointed with the manner in which they’ve been conceding goals recently, Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando Da Cruz is still convinced they are heading in the right direction.

Chiefs dropped another two crucial points when they drew 1-1 with Polokwane City at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, with goalkeeper and skipper Brandon Petersen at the centre of another costly blunder. Lebohang Maboe had given Chiefs the lead in the first half.

Petersen was beaten from a direct corner kick by Giovanni Philander in the 73rd minute. It was Petersen’s fourth howler of the season as pressure continues to mount on Da Cruz to drop him.

“For sure it’s very disappointing [to concede from a direct corner kick] because we made good changes when Brandon made two very big saves in the first half. We knew they’re good at set pieces and crosses, but when we concede this type of goal we should be disappointed,” Da Cruz said.

“But now since Richards Bay, then Siwelele, and today [Saturday] Polokwane City, the opponent doesn’t create chances, but we make big mistakes, and we give opponents the chance to score goals.

“We just concede stupid goals, but we are on the right track because in every game we score. We will continue to attack and develop our model game. OK, we are disappointed with the result today, but we are on the right track about the adaptation of the players with our model game.”

Chiefs’ next game is against Golden Arrows at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday (3pm).