Durban City FC head coach Khalil Ben Youssef felt there were positives to take from his side’s performance despite Thursday night’s 2–0 defeat to Orlando Pirates at Amstel Arena.
City were competitive for much of the first half and into the second, creating a number of opportunities before Pirates eventually broke the deadlock from a corner kick in the 57th minute.
Reflecting on the performance, Ben Youssef felt City managed the game well during the opening 55 minutes. “It was a good first half, especially the first 55 minutes.
‘We managed the game very well, and we didn’t really see Orlando Pirates creating much.” The coach felt City had opportunities to change the game before Pirates found the opening goal.
“You get a sense that if that first opportunity for Sanger goes in the back of the net, it’s probably a different game. It’s different when you score the first goal.
Then Lubumba was one-v-one with the goalkeeper, and Sirino was also one-v-one with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, we missed those chances.”
After Pirates opened the scoring, Ben Youssef felt City needed to improve their focus while dealing with the physical demands of the final stages.
“We needed to be more focused on set pieces and our marking. In the last 25 minutes, we lacked energy, and we could feel the players were getting tired. As I said before the game, we knew it would be physically tough for the players.”
With another league fixture coming up in just three days, Ben Youssef says the focus must now shift to the next match as City look to collect points and improve their position on the table.
The Citizens return to action on Sunday when they travel to Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium to face Milford in another Betway Premiership encounter.
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