Zwane blames leaky Chiefs defence, not 'keeper Khune, for untimely defeat to Swallows

Head coach Arthur Zwane has come to the defence of veteran goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune after Kaizer Chiefs lost their DStv Premiership match against Swallows 2-1 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Monday.

It was the first match Khune had played in three months.

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The 35-year-old has been playing second fiddle to first-choice keeper Brandon Peterson since 29 January after their 1-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns, and he has been warming the bench for 13 consecutive matches in all competitions.

Peterson, 28, was serving a match suspension after receiving a fourth yellow card of the season during Chiefs’ 1-0 win against Chippa United on Thursday last week.

Zwane had to turn to either Khune or Bruce Bvuma for the highly anticipated match against Swallows. He opted for Khune, but the shot-stopper failed to come out of the fixture unscathed as Chiefs’ defensive woes continued.

"What I will say is Khune did well, he made some brilliant saves and, unfortunately, he conceded two goals," Zwane told reporters during his post-match press conference in Polokwane.

"When we conceded, it’s not Itu's [fault]. The defence should have done better. Other players as well, midfielders and strikers, should have been there to help [because] we did not defend properly."

After 28 league matches and two remaining, the Soweto giants have conceded 31 goals, which works out to an average of 1.11 goals every 81 minutes.

"Before they scored, there was another save he made from close range. So, I think he (Khune) did fairly well, but collectively as a team, we could have done better," Zwane said.

"We came into this game, we thought it was going to be easy, and we started