Nasreddine Nabi believes Kaizer Chiefs deserved a win against AmaZulu as he heaps praise on new Amakhosi signings while Arthur Zwane refuses to slam Richard Ofori for costly mistakes - 'football is a game of mistakes'

Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu FC played to a 2-2 stalemate in an exciting Premier Soccer League match at the FNB Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Former Chiefs defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele and goalkeeper Richard Ofori scored own goals, while Tshepang Moremi and Elmo Kambindu were on target for Usuthu.

Nasreddine Nabi and Arthur Zwane reacted to the match's result.

"We feel that it's a game that we deserved to win with the chances that we got, although the opponent had some opportunities we had a lot of opportunities to win this game and we feel that we deserved to win it," Nabi told SuperSport TV after the match. 

"In the first we felt that we were a little bit unbalanced and our defence was not enough protected hence we brought Ox (Sibongiseni Mthethwa). After that, we were better and lost many opportunities to kill the game. But this is football we have to accept and continue working. 

"We are happy with Tashreeq Morris, Glody Lilepo and Thabo Cele, the proof is that the two goals we scored, one on Tashreeq, the second one on Lilepo, even though Thabo Cele got a little bit tired, he brings a lot of fluidity in midfield, a lot of smartness too," he added. 

"And unfortunately Lilepo and Tashreeq and even Thabo, were a little bit tired in the second half and we felt if they had more preparation they could have helped more. But we feel that the three signings are very good and they are going to help the team a lot."

"Look, unfortunately, football is a game of mistakes. As I said earlier on, he kept us in the game and sometimes when the pressure mounts, you are bound to crack," Zwane said on SuperSport TV after the match. 

"He made those two crucial mistakes, both of them we know on any given day he would have saved them, made them look easy. 

"It's our job as coaches to try and help Richards psychologically because we need him. He has been doing fantastically well for the team."

"We started very shaky, we gave Kaizer Chiefs too much space, time on the ball, and respect at the same time," said the Amakhosi legend.  

"But we kept on saying to the players that allow them to come into the middle in numbers but quickly get the ball out wide and we would eliminate about three or four of their players. 

"We knew when we started doing that we would create many chances and that's exactly what we did, although we let ourselves down in terms of decision making, showed that we are a good team after conceding the goal," he added. 

"For me, we were at some point better than them as they created a number of scoring opportunities." 

Both teams must swiftly move past the Tuesday outcome and refocus on their upcoming matches.

Chiefs will travel to Stellenbosch FC at the Athlone Stadium on Friday, while AmaZulu will host Marumo Gallants at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on the same day.