Cape Town City FC coach Muhsin Ertugral. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane, Independent Newspapers
Herman Gibbs
Cape Town City coach Muhsin Ertugral had high praise for title-chasing Orlando Pirates despite them losing 1-0 at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday.
Pirates had done more than enough to win their match, but failed to score, even when they were gifted a penalty by last season’s “PSL Referee of the Year”, Sikhumbuzo Gaza.
On top of that, the visitors hit the woodwork twice, and the resultant defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for the Soweto giants, who were wildly cheered on by the crowd of 21,000 mostly Buccaneers fans.
The Turkish-born coach Ertugral has always been a keen student of the game, and though he’s been absent from the PSL for the past six years, his quest for football knowledge has been relentless.
He’s been attending Premiership matches, and from time to time he’s been called on to make assessments of local teams.
In the past few years, he has worked as a performance strategist and analyst. This expertise has helped to plot the downfall of both Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates in the space of four days.
Despite his back-to-back wins over the Soweto giants, Ertugral had high praise for Pirates.
“We knew this match against Pirates was going to be a very, very tough one. I think Pirates is one of the best sides in South Africa, and Africa. They are a great team to watch. I must say their coach (Jose Riveiro) has done a great job,” said Ertugral.
“The last couple of years, Pirates have developed to a level that has been pretty much a high level of football.
“With this high level of football, I think there was the possibility of the match being like the match against Chiefs (on Sunday).
“There are always counter chances if you play this type of football. You need to have security systems and security organisation patterns.
“We knew that the Chiefs didn’t have it, they (Pirates) didn’t have it as well.”
Despite Pirates’ dominance stemming from their 59% possession advantage, Ertugral said City managed early scoring opportunities which worked wonders for the team’s morale.
“I think in the first 15 minutes, if I’m not mistaken, we had three goal chances,” said Ertugral.
“So, right in the beginning, we could have been a little more precise and made the right decisions.”
The 65-year-old mentor said certain tactics helped to neutralise Pirates in front of the opposition’s goals.
“They work a two-against-one combination, and the third one tucks in. But as long you close the red zone, in front of the box, you can deal with it, and I think we pretty much managed that,” he said.
“Goals are scored in the golden area (plumb in front of the posts), and we didn’t leave them alone there.
“While there were possibilities and box entries, they looked good. However, in the end, their last shot and last pass didn’t work.”
The struggling City outfit have made a terrific recovery since the arrival of Ertugral. They were in a lowly 13th position, and two wins later under his tenure, the team are in sixth place on the Premiership standings.
On Saturday, City will be away to Marumo Gallants in a Premiership clash at the Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein where Gallants are looking to break a four-game winless run.
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