Kaizer Chiefs’ coach Nasreddine Nabi is optimistic that the two upcoming Soweto derbies against Orlando Pirates can potentially save their season.
Chiefs will face Pirates in back-to-back derbies in the Betway Premiership on Saturday and in the Nedbank Cup final a week later. They need to win both games to aid their Top 8 aspirations in the league and end their 10-year barren run, regarding silverware.
Chiefs didn’t have the best dress rehearsal for the two games, though, as they lost to Marumo Gallants 2-1 at FNB Stadium on Saturday to drop down to ninth on the log. That’s why Nabi believes that unity and good preparations will go a long way in ensuring that they are up to the task for the upcoming two crucial games.
“Ahead of us, we have two very important games that can still save our season – the derby is coming next weekend and there’s the final of the Nedbank Cup,” he explained.
“Everyone must assess himself with honesty, and look at himself how he did at training and during the games. Then, we need to stick together. Then we need to go into this week’s preparations with our heads up.”
Marumo Gallants silence Amakhosi 😶
Msendami hit this so accurately 🤩💥
📺 Stream #BetwayPrem on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/MfvIpotLHB
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) April 26, 2025
Nabi’s plea to his troops and technical team came after he delayed coming out for his post-match press conference due to dented morale in the dressing room after the loss.
“It’s true that we had a (lengthy) talk with the players after the difficult position we found ourselves in after (Saturday’s) game,” he said.
“We could see that everybody was down and hurt. The confidence is low, and you feel that some are giving up. What I told them is that there’s no time to blame anyone or each other and there’s no time to regret what happened because we cannot undo the result.”
Chiefs’ low spirits after the loss against Gallants was justified. After all, they led the game through Makabi Lilepo, only for Matome Mathiane and Daniel Msendani to break their hearts with goals either side of half-time. But Chiefs were also their own worst enemy as they wasted plenty of chances before Bahlabane Ba Ntwa eventually equalised and got the lead.
Nabi, though, wasn’t necessarily upset about the result, but he feels his side has regressed as they didn’t play to their strength and usual brand of football.
“It’s just unfortunate that the situation is very bad. But we have to accept it, there’s no excuse for that,” Nabi added.
“The most worrying thing is not about the result, but we have even lost our way of playing and that’s it’s even more concerning. About the statistics of all those previous games, we can’t say a lot of things about them. But the only thing we can say about (Saturday) is that we are in a very bad situation.”
Lilepo fires in a 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐓 🤯🚀
Amakhosi get on the front foot early 👇
📺 Stream #BetwayPrem on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc @McDonalds_SA pic.twitter.com/x0bAkIuONC
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) April 26, 2025
The derby can either make or break a player, and Chiefs’ season, like Nabi said. But in the same breath, he has asked their fans not to judge the progress of their “process” in the upcoming games.
“Yes, we are still on track. We still have steps for the evaluation, which also requires the key to unlock a lot of things for the process,” Nabi added.
