Chippa United may have claimed their third consecutive league victory on Saturday night, but coach Vusi Vilakazi is not about to let his team get ahead of themselves.
Kanu, as he is known in footballing circles, is delighted his team has moved closer to mid-table in the Betway Premiership after their 3-0 victory over Richards Bay at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London at the weekend.
But he was quick to say that it was too early for them to start any talk of finishing in the top eight.
He said they were still in danger of being relegated despite the positive run in their last three league matches.
And rightfully so. There is only a four-point gap between them and the drop zone.
The win over the Natal Rich Boyz was Chippa’s third of the year, moving them closer to TS Galaxy, who occupy the last top eight spot with 24 points.
Vilakazi’s men are 12th with 18 points.
“We still have to make sure that we are fully out of the relegation zone situation completely.
“I’m not saying no to the top eight, but it will not happen automatically,” Vilakazi said.
The Richards Bay game was arguably Chippa’s best performance of the season in terms of offence.
They enjoyed 57% possession and had 15 attempts against a team above them in the standings.
Sirgio Kammies, Somila Ntsundwana and Sinoxolo Kwayiba were the goal scorers for the Eastern Cape team.
Justice Figuareido whipped in a cross from the left which was spilt straight into the path of Kammies, who easily steered home a shot from close range for a 1-0 lead at the interval.
They doubled their lead midway through the second half, with substitute Ntsundwana.
Kwayiba latched onto a poor back pass and provided a classy, composed finish past the on-rushing Richards Bay goalkeeper Ian Otieno to complete the night.
“We realised at half-time as the technical team that they were not giving us space behind them. Our players kept on penetrating, but they were tight in their defence,” Vilakazi said.
“The first goal was our instruction to Figo [Figuareido] that he must cut inside and cross because we can never get the space behind them.
“In the second half, we knew they would be desperate and that they would move forward.
“The message was that we needed to be clinical in front of goal because chances were going to be created and our plan was spot on,” he said.
Vilakazi heaped praise on Kwayiba again and was also thrilled with goalkeeper Dumisani Msibi’s performance in the game.
The Kwayiba goal was his third since returning to Chippa from Orlando Pirates in January, while Msibi kept his third consecutive clean sheet.
Chippa’s next league game is against Golden Arrows at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on February 28.
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