Soweto Derby: Why Nabi Benched Cele and Miguel in Kaizer Chiefs' Loss Against Pirates

• Kaizer Chiefs manager Nasreddine Nabi has explained why Thabo Cele and Inacio Miguel started the match against Orlando Pirates on the bench
• The Tunisian tactician and his boys stumbled to yet another defeat against their city rivals at the FNB Stadium over the weekend
• The two players have been out of Kaizer Chiefs squad for some time now due to injury but they failed to make the starting line-up against the Sea Robbers despite making the bench

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi has opened on the reason behind benching Inacio Miguel and Thabo Cele during their 2-1 loss against Orlando Pirates in the league.

The former AS FAR Rabat coach has stuck with Miguel since he joined Kaizer Chiefs last summer and same with Cele who joined the club in January.

It wasn't the case in the Soweto derby as both players started on the bench with the South African midfielder coming on as a second substitute.

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Why Nabi benched Cele and Miguel in Kaizer Chiefs' loss

Speaking to journalists after match, Nabi stated some of the reason behind his decision to keep Inacio and Cele out the starting lineup.

"Cele is still recovering from an injury and hasn’t been able to complete the full training sessions," Nabi explained.

"That’s why he wasn’t in the starting lineup—he’s not yet at the level to play a full 90 minutes.

"Inacio is in a similar situation. He’s also coming off an injury and isn’t physically ready to give a complete performance right now."

There was speculation that Nabi might have rested the pair for the upcoming Nedbank Cup final at Moses Mabhida Stadium, but he dismissed that suggestion.

The Tunisian mentor denied the claims as both fixtures as important games for his team. He also claimed his club were denied a clear penalty that could have given them the edge during the first half.

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"It wasn’t about saving players for next week. This was a tight, competitive match, and based on how both teams played, I don’t think we deserved to walk away with nothing. We started strong and had the chance to put the game beyond reach, but we didn’t take those chances when it mattered most," he added.

"We believe we should’ve been awarded a penalty at 1-0. And unfortunately, we conceded goals during moments when we had possession—technical errors cost us.

"We must learn to finish games when we’re in control and not allow the opposition to gain confidence through our mistakes."

Nabi blasts ref after denying Kaizer Chiefs a penalty against Pirates

Briefly News earlier reported that Nasreddine Nabi criticised the referee in charge of the Soweto derby after denying Kaizer Chiefs a clear penalty in the first half.

The Tunisian tactician claimed his team should have been awarded a penalty kick in the first half which could have made the scoreline 2-0 before the Sea Robbers got back into the game.

Source: Briefly News