Eric Tinkler refuses to blame Khayisa Mayo for Cape Town City derby loss

Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler has defended star striker Khanyisa Mayo’s woeful performance in the 1-0 iKapa derby defeat to Stellenbosch FC.

Mayo sits just behind Mamelodi Sundowns’ ace Brazilian marksman Lucas Ribeiro Costa on the top of the DStv Premiership goalscoring charts with nine strikes this season, but was off target at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday night.

The City forward had a gilt-edged chance within the first quarter of the game when he pushed his header wide of the right post.

But it was in the second half, with City chasing the equaliser after Devon Titus’ goal for Stellenbosch, that Mayo really fluffed his lines.

Played clear on goal, Mayo only had Oscarine Masuluke to beat, but the blond-haired forward could not slot it past the advancing goalkeeper.

He had a second attempt on the rebound, but could only find the side-netting, much to the disappointment of the City fans.

But instead of criticising Mayo for his missed chances, Tinkler felt that at least the Bafana Bafana striker was getting himself into scoring positions.

“He has been scoring every game bar today (Tuesday night). He had some good chances. It happens,” Tinkler told the media after the 1-0 defeat.

“What is frustrating for me is that we rely mainly on Mayo. I am asking myself who else out there is going to give us goals?

“Because right now, it’s only Mayo. He had those chances, and it happens. I don’t think it’s a crisis of confidence, because he has been scoring.”

City have now failed to defeat their Western Cape rivals for seven straight matches, with Stellies ruling the derby since 2020.

It is a remarkable fact, considering that City have routinely finished higher on the log than Stellies during that period, yet concede six log points to their neighbours virtually every season.

With only goal difference separating the two Western Cape teams on the log this season – Stellies are second and City third – it is a hugely frustrating point for Tinkler.

“It’s the same old, same old against them. They obviously wait for your mistake, and then they punish you on the counter-attack,” he said.

“We controlled the game for the first 20 minutes and we did not punish them. We don’t kill them off. We don’t make the right decisions in the right areas.

“We told them it’s going to come, because we know it’s going to come. Titus was staying there. (Iqraam) Rayners is staying up there. When you go forward and you don’t take your chances, you have to press to win it back.

“And the rest of your defence is sorted. We only have ourselves to blame.

“The fluidity of our game is not there. We see glimpses, but there was a large part of the game where the connection is not there. We have to sit and analyse properly.”

City have a few days to rectify their mistakes before they head to KwaZulu-Natal to face Royal AM on Sunday.