Furious Muhsin Ertugral blames referees after Cape Town City's defeat to Orlando Pirates - 'I wouldn’t give the Man of the Match to any player today'

Cape Town City interim coach Muhsin Ertugral believes the officials played a role in the Citizens' defeat in the PSL match against Orlando Pirates.

The two teams met at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Sea Robbers came from behind to secure a vital 2-1 victory over CT City.

While he emphasized that Pirates is a formidable opponent, Ertugral insisted that referee Luxolo Badi and his assistants robbed Cape Town City.

"Haashim [Domingo], our best player on the field, had two very heavy tackles, which I must say, football is about protecting certain players on the field. You have very good players on the field and obviously they are targets in games and I wouldn’t give the Man of the Match today to the players, definitely not, I would say it that way," Ertugral told the media, as quoted by FARPost.

"I was a bit disappointed, I must say. There was on our side Kayden [Francis], I counted three or four situations because his pace is obviously lighting. He was kicked to pieces in front of these guys [match officials].

"I would definitely not give the Man of the Match [award] to any player today; it is sad, I must say. It is difficult for me to stand and find solutions because Pirates is a quality team with high demand and possibilities. If you get your chances, you must use them and put them under pressure," he added. 

"But from a tactical point of view, the boys did tremendously well for about 70 minutes, in my opinion. I think the answer is very clear when I say today, there is no Man of the Match from the players. I don’t need to say much, you understand." 

Cape Town City aimed to achieve a double over Pirates after defeating the Sea Robbers 1-0 in the first round of the season in January at the DHL Stadium.

Ertugral joined the Citizens as a technical director after the club dismissed coach Eric Tinkler following a poor start to the 2024/25 campaign.

The team from the Mother City is currently placed 10th in the PSL standings, having earned 21 points from 19 matches. They have so far experienced 10 defeats, three draws, and secured six victories.

Ertugral, who is expected to move to his technical director position when a new coach arrives at City, must swiftly improve the club's situation to earn the trust of the club's supporters.

The Western Cape-based team will be in action again on Sunday against AmaZulu in a PSL match at the King Zwelithini Stadium.