Giovanni Solinas has lamented Kaizer Chiefs’ failure to reach the MTN8 final after succumbing to a 3-2 aggregate loss to defending champions SuperSport United.

The Amakhosi failed to use their away-goal advantage as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Kaitano Tembo’s side in the second leg of their MTN8 semi-final clash.

This comes after Solinas was criticised by striker Leonardo Castro for Chiefs’ 2-2 draw against Steve Komphela’s Bloemfontein Celtic, which saw Phunya Sele Sele come from two goals down to draw the game. Castro suggested that at 2-0 up, the Italian mentor should have made several defensive substitutions in a bid to see off the game.

Against SuperSport, Solinas opted to field two defensive midfielders in Wiseman Meyiwa and Willard Katsande at the FNB Stadium and when asked if his decision had anything to do with the former Mamelodi Sundowns’ forward’s sentiments, Solinas categorically denied it, claiming that the defensive approach was a tactical one.

‘No. It’s because our idea was to cover with a much better central midfield. We chose Wiseman to help Katsande in his defensive job,’ he told the media after the loss to SuperSport.

‘Because SuperSport play three in the middle‚ we wanted to put pressure on the SuperSport midfielders,’ he added.

The former Free State Stars mentor came under fire for his decision to field Teenage Hadebe in a bid to improve on the shakiness of the Chiefs’ defence, which was largely caused by defender Daniel Cardoso.

‘The idea was to start protecting our defenders with our two defensive midfielders. And we put [Siphelele] Ntshangase forward‚ like a No 10‚ to give the good pass and assist the strikers.

‘But in the first half, it did not work. Because in the first half, our combinations were not positive. In the second half, we improved. It’s a pity because we conceded this goal… we needed this final,’ he concluded.

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