We couldn't follow the plan - Baxter

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Stuart Baxter admitted that his side couldn’t follow the game plan against Al Ahly after the sending off of Happy Mashiane, adding that while Ahly could put their foot on the gas in the second half, Chiefs were stuck with the handbrake up.

The Glamour Boys headed into the fixture as massive underdogs, but their performances, and in particular their defensive resistance, in the lead up to the final meant that the could not be underestimated.

Baxter’s men managed to contain Chiefs in the first half but a red card to Mashiane on the stroke of the break meant that the Chiefs coach had to change his approach.

“I thought with the challenges that we’ve had building up to the final, the players did really well,” Baxter told the reporters as per IdiskiTimes.

“The opening of the game, we pressed high, but al Ahly were good with the ball.

“I thought we did that reasonably well, but we had less and less of our attacks.

“We couldn’t follow the plan that we’ve had.

“The red card turned out to be the killer, I had to change the game. The second half they put the gas to the floor, the same time we had the hand brake on.”