Durban City beat AS Port Louis 2000 of Mauritius 3-1 in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup tie at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Head coach Eric Tinkler said his side must still fix tactical problems before the return leg.
Haashim Domingo, Gastón Sirino and Tashreeq Morris scored for the KwaZulu-Natal club. The result was Tinkler’s first win since he took charge of the team.
“As much as I’m happy with the win, obviously not entirely happy with the result,” Tinkler said.
The two-goal lead puts Durban City one step closer to the group stages of the competition. The second leg will be played on Sunday at the Complexe Sportif de Côte d’Or in Saint-Pierre, Mauritius.
Domingo opened the scoring in the 16th minute after a sharp turn. Sirino then won the ball from his defender and doubled the lead right after half-time.
The visitors pulled a goal back in the 56th minute. Louis Roussety scored after a defensive lapse by the home side. Morris later restored the two-goal lead with a penalty in stoppage time.
Tinkler said he would have liked to keep a clean sheet. He said his players were wasteful, mostly in the first half, and became complacent after the second goal.
“And that complacency, you can’t allow in this competition,” he said.
The coach explained how a lack of focus hurts the team on the field. “From complacency comes wastefulness, because it means instead of a good pass, I make a poor pass. Instead of a good cross, I make a poor cross. Instead of attacking the ball, I wait for the ball,” Tinkler said.
He also asked his players to change their attitude. “Do we want to be tourists or do we want to be locals? Because a tourist means you’re here for one week, two weeks, and then you go back home. We want to be locals,” he said.
Tinkler said the squad does not have natural wingers. He has had to change the team’s system to deal with this.
“I played Hashim and Sirino, and both of them are not really wingers, they’re more midfielders looking to come and play in as 10s. So I’m adapting the team to a different system,” he said.
He said the new system changes what each player must do when attacking and defending. He added that there were good and bad moments, and some players showed a lack of discipline because the setup is new to them.
Tinkler said he still trusts the skill of his squad. “The quality that we have in terms of players, technically, very, very good,” he said.
“All of them are ballers, you know? So you’ve got to be able to give them a little bit of freedom, but at the same time, they need to understand tactical organisation. In this competition, you have to raise your standard. You can’t play the way you play in the PSL,” he added.
Durban City will travel to Mauritius for Sunday’s second leg, where they will defend their 3-1 lead.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Sport. Image: IOL Sport. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Sports desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Tiyani Mathebula writes about sport for Tzaneen Voice. Tiyani covers Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and the PSL, along with athletics, tennis and local club sport. Match reports and previews focus on results, team news, fixtures and what each game means for South African teams and fans.