Chippa United head coach Luc Eymael is hoping for a change of fortune in the cup competition this weekend after the team’s disappointing run in the Betway Premiership.
The Chilli Boys play Richards Bay FC in the Carling Knockout at the Richards Bay Stadium on Sunday (3pm).
It will be the Belgian’s first cup competition since taking charge of the Eastern Cape side a month ago.
The fixture against The Natal Rich Boyz comes after Chippa’s goalless draw against Stellenbosch at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Sunday, which left them bottom of the league standings.
Teams coached by Eymael have tended to go far in cup competitions, sometimes even winning them.
In 2018, he guided Free State Stars to their first cup in 24 years, after they beat Maritzburg United to claim the Nedbank Cup.
The Carling Knockout competition, though, comes at a time when Eymael is still instilling his playing philosophy at Chippa.
The team was far from the finished project, he said on Sunday, adding that he had encountered difficulties in building the foundations necessary for the side to flourish.
They were flat in the Stellies game, and the coach said they had their work cut out before travelling to KwaZulu-Natal.
Chippa’s last trip to Richards Bay was at the end of August and ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Eymael was in the stands, awaiting his work permit, during that match and he definitely does not want a repeat performance.
In 2024, Chippa were eliminated during extra time in the first round of the Carling Knockout Cup by TS Galaxy, who played the last part of the game with 10 players.
“I have to review the Stellenbosch game and analyse,” Eymael said.
“The positive thing going to the Richards Bay game is that as a team, we finally got our first clean sheet of the season in the Stellies game.
“We have to now find ways to score goals because we are going to a cup competition.
“We had a lack of pace on the wings in the Stellies game, hence there were substitutions made.
“We scored against Sekhukhune but in the Stellenbosch game we did not score.
“But another positive is that we stopped Stellenbosch from scoring.
“They are a big team, they were in the CAF Confederation Cup and even went to the semifinal last season.”
Chippa are awaiting word from the PSL and Safa regarding a complaint about the officiating which they filed after their league game against Sekhukhune United.
The club accused referee Philangenkosi Khumalo of bias in the second half, claiming “every major decision favoured Sekhukhune”, and raising concerns around his integrity.
Daily Dispatch
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