Caps United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has blamed the referee for Sunday’s defeat to Chicken Inn which dethroned them from the top of the log standings.

The Green Machine lost 3-1 in a Match-day 10 encounter played at National Sports Stadium.

“I don’t want to talk about referees, but on this one, I thought the referee had a say in the outcome of the match,” complained Chitembwe.

“I asked my players if the Chicken Inn player had a touch on the ball, and they said yes. The goalkeeper only handled the ball after a Chicken Inn player had a touch on the ball.

“But we just take it on the chin and move forward. We will go back to the drawing board and plan for the next match.”

Chicken Inn had a good start, surging ahead on minute 24 through hattrick hero Clive Augusto who was set up by Clement Matawu.

Augusto doubled the lead early in the second half through the disputable goal from an indirect free kick after Mverechena had handled a back pass from Godwin Goriyati.

Caps United later pulled one back through Dominic Chungwa but hopes of a revival were dashed when Augusto killed the match as a contest with a low shot outside the box.