Shabalala carries a lot of responsibility at Kaizer Chiefs – Nasreddine Nabi

Nabi was speaking after Amakhosi’s vital and hard fought 1-0 win over Chippa United in a Betway Premiership game played at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Sunday. Shabalala’s individual brilliance saw him beating four defenders on his way to scoring the only goal in this game.

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Nabi says the 20-year-old can deliver more performances like this, but he’s under pressure at the club.

''Shabalala has been good, not consistent but we feel that he carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders for such a big team like Kaizer Chiefs. This would sometimes put a lot of pressure on him, that's why sometimes he is good, sometimes he's very good. But he is still young and I want to congratulate him for being at a consistent level so far. We feel that other youngsters should learn from him,'' said Nabi.

This was Chiefs’ first win in four matches and only their second in seven games, Nabi feels that his players approached this particular match with a handbrake on.

''I believe before the goal there were two opportunities created. At half time we told the players they need to keep pushing to try and score the second. It felt like when someone is driving a car and has a handbrake on, maybe it's because a few games have been tough and the players need to try hard to get out of that state. but we retain the three points and build from that,'' added Nabi.

Another positive for Chiefs from this game, was to register their first clean sheet in the league this season in 10 matches.

But Nabi is more concerned with the overall quality of play that wasn’t consistent in this game.

Chippa have now suffered back-to-back losses against Cape Town City and Chiefs, but they had a much better second half as head coach Kwanele Kopo explains that they were not at their best in the game to get something out of it.

Kopo has also explained the reason behind the early substitution of midfielder Ayabulela Konqobe, who was replaced by Tanzanian international Baraka Majogoro in the 35th minute. Konqobe didn’t take kindly to that sub and went straight to the dressing room.

''We actually took out Konqobe and Baraka came in as a substitute. Like I said in the beginning we felt that he was not applying himself tactically. He hardly touched the ball and struggled to help us press in terms of  Mthethwa and Maart. And I felt that when Baraka came in there was more stability in the midfield,'' said Kopo.