Kaizer Cheifs coach Gavin Hunt has explained the reason why he made eight changes to his side that faced Petro de Luanda in the African Champions League match played on Saturday.
Hunt rolled a surprising lineup recalling Daniel Akpeyi, Erick Mathoho, Lazarous Kambole, Bernard Parker, Daniel Cardoso, Philani Zulu, Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Happy Mashiane against the Angolan side.
Leonardo Castro, Samir Nurkovic, Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Kearyn Baccus, Siyabonga Ngezana, Njabulo Blomand Anthony Akumu Agay dropped out of the squad as the South African coach opted for a more conventional approach against his rejuvenated opposition.
Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was not available and the changes resulted in a 2-0 win at home for the Amakhosi, thanks to goals from Erick Mathoho and Happy Mashiane.
“The goalkeeper – we all know what’s happened to ‘Itu’, okay; Rama [Mphahlele] got sent off last week; the strikers [Leonardo Castro and Samir Nurkovic] are both injured, so we had no striker tonight,” Hunt said after the match.
“Man City make six or seven changes every week and they keep winning, so I don’t know. We made changes because we’ve got lots of problems with players out and that.
“Obviously that affects the balance of the team, and when the balance goes then you need to play players [in make-shift positions].
“Like I played Lazzy [Kambole] on the right, we don’t really have a right-side player so I had to play him there, and he did okay, he ran hard for us.
“We had no striker so we played Lebo [Manyama] there, and so we go through the team. Parker played as a midfielder because it was the right decision, and so on and so on.
“At the back, ‘Tower’ [Mathoho] hasn’t played any football for us this year, so we need to play him to try and get him fit – I’m not going get him fit by training him but by putting mileage in his legs, so we have to play. It’s just sort of has that domino effect into the team.”
So far Chiefs have gone 360 minutes at home in the CAF Champions League this season without conceding a goal.They have kept a clean sheet in all four of their home games in the competition this season.
