Rebuilding momentum: Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze believes the club are finally closing the gap on their rivals after a vastly improved season. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze believes his side have made important strides toward closing the gap on Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates following a season that has shown visible signs of improvement at Naturena.
Chiefs strengthened their hold on a CAF Confederation Cup qualification spot after grinding out a hard-fought 1-0 victory over AmaZulu FC at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday. The result moved Amakhosi closer toward matching their best points return in the last six years — the 57-point tally achieved during the 2019/20 campaign under Ernst Middendorp.
That statistic alone highlights the progress Chiefs have made after the disappointment of failing to finish inside the top eight last season. Although Chiefs were never able to sustain a genuine title challenge deep into the campaign, Kaze believes the season has still provided valuable lessons for the club moving forward.
“I would say there was not any dominant team in the league this season and everyone was competing, and I believe we were also very close until late January,” said Kaze.
Chiefs spent portions of the first half of the season lingering around the upper section of the table before inconsistency and injuries gradually disrupted momentum during the crucial middle stretch of the campaign. Still, there remains a growing feeling that the club are beginning to rebuild some level of competitiveness again after several difficult seasons.
“It’s a lesson that we learnt on what we could have done differently, maybe to stay in contact with the log leaders,” Kaze continued.
“If you see the difference between the points we have now and the previous season, it’s true there’s a big difference. But this team also deserves better things.”
The victory itself was not without drama.
Match-winner Glody Lilepo was sent off shortly after scoring the decisive goal following a second yellow card for removing his shirt during celebrations.
The dismissal briefly threatened to overshadow what had otherwise been another committed display from the Congolese attacker. However, Kaze quickly defended the player after the match and suggested emotion had simply overtaken the experienced forward in the moment.
“I would say it was an unfortunate situation with Lilepo, he’s a player with big experience and he should know better because he already had been booked in the first half,” explained Kaze. “But that’s football and I also understand his emotions when he scored because a human being without emotion is not a human being.”
Chiefs will now shift their focus toward their final match of the season against Chippa United as they look to finish a rebuilding campaign strongly.
“We got the three points and everything is good, so we need to just concentrate on the last game against Chippa United,” he concluded.