Disappointed Nabi slams Chiefs players for 'lacking professionalism'

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi didn't hold back, slamming his players for "lacking professionalism" as they blew a two-goal lead to eventually draw 2-all against Royal AM at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

Chiefs broke the deadlock via Ashley Du Preez as early as the fifth minute, before Wandile Dube added the second eight minutes later.

Chiefs continued to dominate the game after scoring the two goals but squandered a number of opportunities, allowing Royal to come back in the second half, where they scored in the 51st and 89th minutes via Ayabulela Maxwele and Levy Mashiane respectively to steal a point.

"I feel today is a lack of professionalism. We could have ended the first half 5-0 up... this game could have ended with us having eight goals but we didn't convert the chances that we created,'' Nabi said.

The Chiefs coach also suggested he felt his players were selfish and didn't respect football on the day. It was the first time Amakhosi failed to win a league game despite leading 2-0 at halftime. Nabi was also not happy with how they defended.

"Sometimes you don't score because of ego...if you don't respect football, football doesn't respect you as well. We are very, very frustrated about the two points we have lost today because we controlled the game from the first to last minute. If you miss too many chances, you give confidence to the opponent,'' Nabi stated.

"The other frustrating thing is that we failed to defend with three, four minutes remaining...you need to defend your lead. It's very hard to understand what happened today.

"I feel like in the first 25 minutes people were playing for themselves not for the team."

Chiefs return to Polokwane for their next game, this time for an away league clash against Polokwane City at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium next Sunday.

Amakhosi have won three of their first seven Betway Premiership fixtures with two defeats and two draws.

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