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Cape Town - After re-igniting their Premiership title aspirations with a 1-0 victory over Free State Stars, Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler praised his side's fighting spirit.
The Citizens managed to grind out three points at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night, with Judas Moseamedi grabbing the only goal of the game.
Playing as a wide target man, the lanky South Africa youth international forward made the most of a rare start under Tinkler to repay the manager's faith with the second-half winner against Ea Lla Koto.
Nonetheless, as City moved back into second place ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns, the former Orlando Pirates coach admitted he expected a tough encounter against the relegation candidates, after succumbing a surprise loss in mid-week against Maritzburg United.
"It was a very tough game and we had to hold on towards the end," Tinkler told reporters.
"They were throwing a lot of aerial balls into our box but I thought we dealt with it quite well.
"It was always going to be difficult, they are fighting for their lives, it's that stage of season. We were also coming off a poor result against Maritzburg, not just a poor result in fact but a poor performance.
"It was not anywhere near our best, but character, hard work, good unity and a good team performance.
"Our shape was a lot better in the second half, when we made the changes they were at the right time. A good cross from [Vincent] Kobola, probably the only time he got forward, and Juda [Moseamedi] scored," he added.
"Juda worked extremely hard tonight, we started him out of the right as an experiment and he had a fantastic performance over the 90 minutes."
