Johnson lauds Mmodi after Chiefs win in Polokwane

Cavin Johnson praised Pule Mmodi after the Kaizer Chiefs attacker’s first goal since August gave Amakhosi a 1-0 win over Polokwane City at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

Mmodi fired home his fourth DStv Premiership goal of the season six minutes into the second half as Chiefs won back-to-back league matches for the first time since the end of August.

“I thought Mmodi worked his socks off,” Johnson told SuperSport TV after the match.

The 30 year-old Mmodi’s return to the starting line up has coincided with Chiefs’ upturn in results – the former Golden Arrows man netted three times in the August wins over Stellenbosch and AmaZulu.

“I am very happy with the performance I gave today, it has been a long time for me not scoring,” said Mmodi, on receiving the Man-of-the-Match Award.

While Johnson was happy with the three points, the Chiefs interim head coach was not entirely happy with the way his side played against City.

Bruce Bvuma had to have an excellent game for Chiefs in goal, making one particularly spectacular first half save from Douglas Mapfumo.

‘We had to fight for it’

“I thought my team defended well, we scored the goal but we had to fight for it” said Johnson.

“They threatened us all the time with the long ball, and that is what this team (City) is all about. They play the long ball, and they play off the second ball. If you don’t clear the long ball correctly, they can come in from behind, and for sure, they gave us a lot of problems.

“In a lot of moments, we were not able to play our game, where we are calmer on the ball.

“I also thought we gave the ball away too easily when we had the ball. Our centre backs, our left back, our right back, (they) tried to make the champagne pass when we had to keep the ball a little bit longer, and then maybe the spaces would open.

“But in saying that we go away with the three points and we are happy for that.”