Khalil Ben Youssef bemoans missed chances in Pirates defeat

17.09.26 FT South African Betway Premiership

Orlando Pirates

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Durban City

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Durban City head coach Khalil Ben Youssef has bemoaned the lack of cutting edge in the final third following their 2-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates in a Betway Premiership clash at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Thursday night.

The KwaZulu-Natal outfit fell to second half goals from Lebone Seema and Tshepang Moremi - this after squandering several clear-cut opportunities, which they were made to rue by Abdeslam Ouaddou's troops.

City, as a result, saw their six-game unbeaten run across all competitions come to an end, and currently sit 11th on the Betway Premiership table, having accumulated six points from their opening six league matches of the season.

Ben Youssef attributed the loss against Pirates to missed opportunities, urging his charges to up the ante in the opposing box, and says the technical team is working around the clock to find a solution to the recurring problem.

“I think we spoke even before the game that we know the problem of our team is that we are creating a lot of chances, but we are not scoring enough. It's something that we know, all of us know this problem, we are working on it,” said the former Kaizer Chiefs co-coach.

"But sometimes I think we need to take responsibility as players, we need to be more sure and we need to work more and to be more serious, when we create opportunities, we need to score. As a technical staff, we are making a lot of analysis, a lot of individual work.

"At the end of the day that's football, when you create chances, it's last 13 minutes it's always like the big question, the last 13 minutes is for the players. Our job as the technical staff is to make sure that our team is playing with a system, with a plan, creating chances.

"I think the team is doing very well in this point, but last third I think we are creating chances, but we are not scoring.

Durban City return to action with a Betway Premiership tie against a stubborn newly promoted side in Milford FC at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Sunday, in what's expected to be a fiercely contested KwaZulu-Natal derby.

Hlayisani Magoro

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Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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