South African tactician Rulani Mokwena was nothing short of praise for his players who had to rally from a goal down to thump Ceramica Cleopatra 4-1 in the Egyptian Premier League.
Cleopatra shocked Pyramids in the fifth minute when they took the lead, but the 2024/25 CAF Champions League winners bounced back aggressively scoring four goals to return to the top of the Egyptian Premier League leapfrogging Al Ahly SC.
The win made it six wins in six games for Mokwena’s side who are the only side to have a 100% perfect start to the season in Egypt.
Speaking with Kora Plus, Mokwena admitted that Cleopatra caught them by surprise when it comes to the lineup but applauded his players for bouncing back and adapting quickly.
“It was a very difficult game for many reasons; always the first after the international break when you have a lot of players going for international duty it’s always very difficult,” Mokwena said.
“And then of course we played against a very good team, a very good coach, a very good team with a lot of quality on the pitch.
“They caught us a little bit by surprise with no Ahmed Belhadji, no Amr Marwan from the start, but Gradišar is always a problem, Bobo is always a problem, Amr El-Solia and Kalawa in the midfield, you have to be there and in the duels in the centre to close the half spaces.
“You saw with the goal that we conceded; it was exactly that, we started a little bit shaky, as I said they caught us a little bit by surprise with the lineup.
“But I have to praise the players, good character after we conceded the goal and also a good emotional reaction, this is what you try to see from a big team with big players.”