Cape Town - Cape Town City head coach Benni McCarthy has apologised for his foul-mouthed reaction to Ajax Cape Town defender Isaac Nhlapo's tackle on Teko Modise.
READ: Benni hails Cape Town support for Ikapa derby
McCarthy claimed his first Ikapa derby victory at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon in front of a 20 000 strong crowd.
Victor Obinna opened the scoring for the Citizens before Judas Moseamedi put the game beyond reach in the dying minutes of the encounter.
In the build-up to the clash, both McCarthy and Ajax mentor Stanley Menzo, spoke about the passion of the derby and how it would come into play.
Leading 2-0, Modise was anchored to the left flank of the field, taking his time on the ball while also displaying a bit of showboating.
Nhlapo was having none of that as he tackled the former Orlando Pirates midfielder which triggered McCarthy to leave his technical area to share a few words with the Ajax player.
"There were a couple of nasty incidents where I think I also over-reacted a bit," McCarthy said at the post-match press conference.
"But I’m one of those guys ... I always say a team is a reflection of its manager. I’m a passionate guy from Cape Town, and if people want to bully my players, I’m the first one to stand up for them.
"That was one of the situations where, as a coach, you’ve got to deal with it a little bit better, but it just shows the passion that I have for my players and for the team."
McCarthy continued: "It was just the emotions of the game sometimes it happens. I was concerned, as we had worked so hard to get Teko back, and we know he is agile and has trickery, so for players to come in and think they can use his as a kicking bag, I took it a very badly.
"In the heat of the moment it happens, but I should have been the better person in that incident.
"But I was just concerned about my player as he had just come back from injury and I know how hard he had worked to get back on the pitch, and for someone to just snap at him out of anger, and risk him not playing in the upcoming MTN8 final would mean I would be stuck with a problem of losing a key player, so that is why I reacted the way I did."
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Benni McCarthy was only telling the Ajax guy he "mustn't push" his player. pic.twitter.com/ipSOZz3JU6
— Lester Kiewit (@lesterkk) September 30, 2017