Menzi Magubane
The return of Samir “Kokota” Nurkovic has brought smiles to the faces of the Kaizer Chiefs faithful. On his first start this season the Serbian scored the winning goal as Amakhosi beat AmaZulu 1-0 in Durban on Wednesday.
This was Chiefs’ second win this season, three points that saw them moving away from the relegation zone up to position 10. Nurkovic’s goal was the first winning goal that has been scored for Chiefs this season.
In their first win away at Chippa United back in October, defender Gregory Damons scored an own goal. AmaZulu’s win was a huge one for Chiefs and coach Gavin Hunt.
Hunt said: “I thought Samir was fantastic today. I didn’t want to play him but I only have one striker. For us right now any win is a big win. It shows that we’re poor defensively,” said Hunt.
The return of Nurkovic has been welcomed by Hunt and Wednesday’s result shows why, especially after the injuries of Leonardo Castro and Khama Billiat.
“As I said from the start, if you get a guy like Samir playing every week you see the difference. That’s what happened last season, he played those first 10 games and he was brilliant and scored all those goals. Give him half a chance and he will use it and it was something that we didn’t have this season,” said Hunt.
The defeat for Usuthu was the first since Benni McCarthy took charge of the team as coach in December. They, however, didn’t move from position 9 and they are now tied on 10 points with Chiefs.
“I’m very disappointed because it was a tremendous opportunity for us to walk away with three points. Because Kaizer Chiefs weren’t in a good space. But we were playing giants.
“And when you play giants you have to be clinical. We needed to put the ball in the net because if you play teams like this they only need one chance to punish you and that is what happened,” said McCarthy.
Other Wednesday’s DStv Premiership results: Tshakuma Tsha Madzivhandila 0-3 Orlando Pirates; SuperSport United 2-1 Bloemfontein Celtic.
Picture source: @kaizerchiefs
