Kaizer Chiefs began their 2026/27 Betway Premiership campaign under the tenure of new coach Fernando Da Cruz with a dominant 3-1 victory over top-flight debutants, Kruger United in Nelspruit on Saturday evening.

Speaking to the assembled media afterwards, the French coach expressed his delight at the manner in which his team got their season up and running with an early Flavio Da Silva strike.

“Firstly, I’d like to congratulate the players for getting the three points. We controlled the game for the first 30 minutes but in the 15 minutes before halftime we were a bit rushed and conceded a goal from the opposition’s only offensive action,” he said.

“Their goal came from their only attack of the first half, and was a bit lucky,” he continued, “Their number 10 (Khetukuthula Ndlovu) gave us problems getting in behind our midfield line, so the main thing at halftime was to take measures to nullify his threat by blocking the passing lanes to him, and we did better at keeping him quiet in the second half.”

Amakhosi looked sharp and incisive after the break and were rewarded with two unanswered goals from substitute, Wandile Duba to secure the victory.

“We started the second half with the same intensity and control of the tempo that we had at the beginning of the match. I am very happy with the performance although we need to keep working hard,” he said.

Much of Amakhosi’s play reflected a desire for the players to get the ball forward at the earliest opportunity, which was met with loud approval from the 50 000+ excited spectators inside the Mbombela stadium.

“We are in the process of implementing our game model, which the players enjoy and are working hard at understanding the way we want to play,” Da Cruz explained, adding, “We have only played two games, which have gone well, yet we have a long season ahead and will always continue to work hard at improving.”