Ertugral questions officials as City suffer third loss in four games

The football gods continue to contrive against Cape Town City, who suffered a shock Betway Premiership defeat by relegation-threatened Magesi FC at Seshego Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday.

It was the first match at the refurbished 15 000-capacity Seshego Stadium, Magesi's new headquarters, which turned out to be a good omen for the home side. Their 2-0 win left Cape Town City gaffer Mushin Ertuğral dumbstruck.

This latest defeat marks City’s third loss in four Premiership matches, plunging them into seventh place in the standings. Ertuğral, who took over from former coach Eric Tinkler at the start of January, had enjoyed a promising start with headline-grabbing wins over Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates within just four days.

However, since then, City’s form has soured dramatically, with Saturday's 2-0 whitewash in Polokwane leading to an accumulation of heartbreaks.

Despite dominating possession, City strangely failed to hit the target with any of their four shots at goal. In contrast, Magesi, coached by the experienced Owen Da Gama, unleashed 18 shots, of which six were on target. These statistics not only highlight Magesi’s strong grip on the game despite limited possession but also enabled the team to climb off the foot of the table for the first time since December.

Ertuğral expressed his frustrations post-match, asserting that his team was undone by a dubious penalty and a foul on goalkeeper Darren Keet, which left a foul taste in his mouth.

“I think a summary of the game, be it technically or tactically, should only be done once a review of this game has properly been done,” he stated.

“Can you not see what is against us?

A penalty ... I don’t know. The goalkeeper has the ball in his hand and it’s knocked out.”

Further articulating his discontent, Ertuğral lamented the constant setbacks that City faces each week.

“It seems to me that every week they (our opponents) get a penalty against us, which is for me a bit questionable. I can’t find words.

“We wanted to change the game. This has nothing to do with technical tactical areas. We didn’t play football here today.”

The Premiership will now take a break while the Nedbank Cup last-16 round continues this week. City, having suffered a defeat in their first-round match, will return to Premiership action in 10 days when they host Chippa United in the Mother City.