Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef unleashed a fierce post-match tirade against Orlando Pirates after chaotic pre-match scenes marred the Soweto Derby on Sunday afternoon.
A brawl involving officials and outsiders invading Chiefs’ warm-up area at FNB Stadium forced Amakhosi players to abandon their preparation, prompting Ben Youssef to slam the incident as unacceptable and accuse Pirates of resorting to “dark arts” instead of winning through football, following the 1-1 stalemate.
“I think what happened before the game is something that we can’t accept. We are sending a bad image of our football. People are waiting to watch football, but what we saw before the game is unacceptable,” Ben Youssef told Goal Mzansi.
“I think this kind of situation is a shame. If you want to win the league, you can’t do it like that. You need to do it cleanly. People are waiting to see the football, but what we saw before the game we can’t accept. I think if you want to win the league, if you want to lead the teams, you have to win with football, not like that.”“It’s about safety, we spoke about safety.
“People from outside come and fight with our players, in our warm-up in our half. We didn’t use that. For this kind of game, you don’t have to motivate the players; if you are not motivated for the derby, then what are you doing in football? We had to keep them calm and focused on the game.”
The draw means Pirates maintained their lead at the top of the Betway Premiership with 59 points, while Chiefs stayed in third place on 47 points, failing to close the gap on their rivals in the title race.
