Daniel Akpeyi has praised Kaizer Chiefs teammate, Itumeleng Khune thanking the club Legend and others after his Saturday’s Man of the match performance in the Soweto derby victory.
Chiefs recorded a 1-0 victory over their eternal rivals, Orlando Pirates to open up a seven-point gap at the top of the PSL table.
Akpeyi was handed a starter’s shirt despite talks in the build-up that he could be dropped for fit-again Itumeleng Khune.
The Super Eagles shot stopper however went on to repay his manager’s trust by putting in a commanding performance.
He made six good saves and capped the brilliant showing with a man of the match award.
Lebogang Manyama’s 30th-minute effort handed Chiefs their first league win on the road against the Buccaneers since 2014.
Speaking after the game, Akpeyi said he and his teammates had really prepared for the encounter and were aware of the areas Pirates would possibly make mistakes.
“We actually stalled the game, we planned for Pirates very well and decided that we’re not going to go wide, we’re not going to extend ourselves wide,” Akpeyi told Super Sports TV.
“We just gonna make sure that we stay compact and when we win the ball we have to counter because we know where the mistakes are gonna come from them and that played out for us today.”
Speaking further, the former Warri Wolves goalie dedicated the Man-of-the-match award to his coaches and teammates while urging the fans of the club to rally behind the entire team and not support individuals.
“I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has made this day possible for me.
“I want to share this award with my coaches, because since day one they are the ones that actually believe in me following what happened two weeks ago.
“I want to say this again, every supporter should support the entire team not the individual because that’s the problem I think we have and I told everyone that’s supporting me stop tugging me against my reserve goalkeeper or Khune rather because as far as I’m concerned he’s a legend and he’s still number one.”
