Kaizer Chiefs have suffered a potentially significant injury blow after midfielder Lebohang Maboe was forced off during their goalless draw with Golden Arrows.
Maboe was withdrawn in the second half after picking up an injury, with head coach Fernando Da Cruz confirming that the midfielder’s setback affected his team’s balance in the middle of the park.
The injury comes at an unfortunate time for Maboe, who was recently included in the Bafana Bafana squad.
Da Cruz revealed that the substitution was initially a straight swap, but admitted that Maboe’s early departure left Chiefs somewhat imbalanced in midfield.
“We changed position for position for Maboe, unfortunately his injury arrived a bit early in the second half. After we were a bit imbalanced in midfield,” Da Cruz said.
The Chiefs coach then made further attacking substitutions as Amakhosi pushed for a winning goal, but they were unable to find the breakthrough.
“The other substitutions were to win the game, I changed attacking players to win the game, because we always want to win the game,” he added.
“Unfortunately today we touched the post, we had opportunities but we didn’t score.”
Maboe’s injury will now be a concern for both Chiefs and Bafana Bafana, with the midfielder facing a wait to determine the severity of the setback.
Maboe one of the best Chiefs players
Since joining Amakhosi as a free agent from Mamelodi Sundowns, Maboe has been one of the team’s best players. He narrowly missed out on selection for the FIFA World Cup.
