Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi paid tribute to his troops for their memorable comeback, against Stellenbosch FC in their Betway Premiership clash at FNB Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Chiefs went a goal down in the 20th minute as Devin Titus lobbed the ball over AmaKhosi keeper Bruce Bvuma before Khomotjo Lekoloane slotted the ball into an open goal.
It seemed a particularly harsh blow as Stellies made the Chiefs defence look ordinary, but the hosts did not take long to strike back.
Wandile Duba levelled the scores just eight minutes later, and then bagged his brace and the winner just short of the hour mark to complete a 2-1 victory.
“First of all congratulations to the players, it's not easy to come back from a goal down, we started well the first five minutes, we had control,” Nabi told SuperSport.
“But we noticed that there was a little bit of confusion with the system of the back three, which gave the opportunity to the opponent to take control of the game, to have more possession, that's why we made the tactical change.”
Nabi went on to further explain his tactical strategy.
“By taking off the left back [Bradley Cross] and putting on the winger [Tebogo Potsane] and it's not easy against such a good team like Stellenbosch to come from behind and score two, that requires character and that's what we feel we had today and credit goes to the players.”
It was also a welcome result, a day after the club celebrated its 55th birthday.
“It's true that in the chances we created we managed to score two goals but the last game we played in Cape Town … a lot of players had pains but they managed to play through the pain and give everything for the team, for the birthday, and the amazing fans to come out at the end of 90 minutes.”
With the win, Chiefs are up to fifth on the table while Stellenbosch are seventh.