Cape Town City FC technical director Muhsin Ertugral praised his charges following their 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs.
Image: Cape Town City FC
New Cape Town City FC technical director Muhsin Ertugral is setting his sights on Orlando Pirates following their 1-0 win against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday in his first Betway Premiership match in charge.
Ertugral was appointed last week after Eric Tinkler was sacked after almost four years in charge following a string of poor results that left the Mother City team closer to the bottom of the table than the top.
The experienced Turk Ertugral has been put in charge of the first team for the rest of season, before a new coach takes over next season.
With the win, City moved up to 11th place on 14 points, just one point behind the seventh placed Chiefs.
Ertugral set up Cape Town City team to hurt Chiefs on the counter, and that is exactly what they did at the DHL Stadium, with Darwin Gonzalez scoring the only goal of the game six minutes after halftime.
The home side kept their shape on defence and then exploited the space behind Chiefs when the ball was turned over.
"The boys were unbelievable, disciplined, organised because I knew against Kaizer Chiefs you have these counter-attacks," Ertugral said after the match.
"In the last third, last decision, combination, we could have gone to halftime with the lead. Chiefs attacking pattern and formation we knew it, it's a quality team but you can counter.
"We could've got a second and third one on a counter. I'm really proud of the boys today. What I saw in the beginning is that the team played in patches, so wanted to play as a collective," he explained.
"I think we had synergy, that's one of the reasons why we could score through the counter. We have young players and if we're patient we can be very successful."
Ertugral's team is now gearing up for a much tougher assignment against league title chasing Pirates at the same venue on Wednesday night.
Pirates are currently three points behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played one game more than the Buccaneers. The Soweto giants can essentially go top with a win in Cape Town.
Ertugral has a lot of respect for Pirates, saying they are one of the best teams in Africa. However, another win in the league could see the Cape side move up to fifth place in the standings.
"Orlando Pirates at the moment one of the best teams not only in South Africa but in the continent," he added.
"We need to get over this performance as quickly as possible and we'll see because both teams can play a very tactical approach."
@JohnGoliath82