Eric Tinkler Admits Cape Town City Were Not at Their Best Despite Victory!

Eric Tinkler Admits Cape Town City Were Not at Their Best Despite Victory! The Cityzens romped the Dube Birds in the MTN last night.

Cape Town City thrashed Swallows FC 4-0 in their MTN 8 semi-final second leg last night. Head coach Eric Tinkler disclosed that his side didn’t perform to their best levels.

The game was affected by turbulent weather late into the first half and into the second half. Naturally, this negatively impacted the events on the football pitch.

Surprise Ralani opened the scoring just before the second half ended. Fagrie Lakay doubled City’s advantage early into the second stanza.

Ralani secured his brace soon after. Substitute defender Edmilson Dove scored the fourth goal from a corner into injury time.

“I don’t think we were very good in the first half,” Tinkler said to the media after the match.

“Structurally we struggled to deal with them, our pressing strategy didn’t work as we had planned in training. They created a number of problems for us.

“They played literally with four up against us, and when they came into the half-pockets, we didn’t track them and then it was very easy for them to get through the build-up phase and into the final phase.

“We spoke about it at halftime, where we needed to fix it. The second half started pretty much the same, we struggled for the first 10-minute period, but once we got the first goal, the game turned on its head.

“From there on we controlled it and they had to obviously commit more bodies in attack, take a chance and a risk, and when they did that, we opened them up.

“I’m happy for the team, we have been working extremely hard in that final third to score goals. Hopefully that builds the confidence of the team, the psychological side of the game is so important, and a lot of people don’t see that.

“We needed this result tonight, leading up to the game against Orlando Pirates on the weekend.” He concluded.

They will take on Mamelodi Sundowns in the Cup final on the 30^th of October 2021. Eric Tinkler Admits Cape Town City Were Not at Their Best Despite Victory!