Badela proud as Durban City react to Chippa's defeat with Nedbank Cup win

Durban City coach Sinethemba Badela was pleased with his side’s reaction after they eliminated Chippa United in the Nedbank Cup round of 32 on Friday evening at the Chatsworth Stadium.

Darren Keet emerged as the hero as the Citizens secured their place in the competition’s last 16, winning 3-2 on penalties after the two sides played out a goalless draw through normal and extra time.

The victory will leave a particularly sweet taste for Badela, who gained a measure of revenge over his former side following the 2-0 league defeat suffered just a week earlier in the league. 

With the opportunity to match or even surpass last season’s quarterfinal finish in this competition still within reach, the win gives City plenty to build on.

Pleased with his side’s achievement, Badela acknowledged that his team could have been more clinical in front of goal to prevent the match from going into extra time and the tense penalty shootout.

“I want to congratulate my players on a better performance than last week,” Badela said during a post-match interview on Supersport.

“The performance was better, but I thought we missed a lot of chances from situations which we trained. Terrence (Mashego) had two good chances in the first and even in the second half.”

City were wasteful in front of goal and could have easily slipped up on the night, but the 36-year-old coach was pleased with their defensive discipline and how they handled the other end of the pitch.

“The decision-making in the final third is letting us down, but we will work on it. I am happy with the clean sheet over 120 minutes, and we didn’t give away too many chances. 

“They had one chance on transition; we failed to counter-press, and it became a counter-attack with not good counter-pressing, but we will improve.”

Badela added that it was crucial for his side to react positively to their league defeat, especially with an important run in the league ahead.

“We have to try and win at home, because if you look at the fans, they do not stop singing and pushing the team.

“Today was all about reaction, we had to react from the previous loss, and we had to do it on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Chippa United coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi admitted his disappointment with the result but was encouraged by his side’s performance, taking confidence from pushing the home team all the way as they continue to battle to escape the relegation zone in the league.

“It was a tough one, and we anticipated that it was going to be tough,” Vilakazi said.

“I am happy, and the reason why we wanted to push in the Nedbank Cup was because we wanted to align our psychological aspects because the team had been losing six or seven games in a row.

“I was happy that in the 90 minutes we were not easily beaten and the opposition was not penetrating us that much, and I am happy with the effort. Going forward, we will build on this performance.”