Orlando Pirates legend Lucky Lekgwathi has thrown his weight behind striker Yanela Mbuthuma saying he deserves more credit for his role played in contributing to goals scored by his teammates this season.
Mbuthuma, 24, joined the Buccaneers at the start of this season from Richards Bay and has five goals and one assist in 19 Betway Premiership appearances. He’s behind midfielders Relebohile Mofokeng and Oswin Appollis at the club in terms of numbers in goals and assists.
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The duo has scored 18 goals between them in the league and are breathing down the necks of the current top goal scorers. This fact has not gone well with some factions of the club’s supporters and he also received critics from pundits.
The former Pirates skipper told iDiski Times journalist Lethabo Kganyago in edition 252 of the newspaper that Mbuthama’s contribution is underrated as he is the one doing the donkey work that distracts opposing defenders and frees his teammates to finish.
“We can say strikers don’t score goals, but I’m looking at [Yanela] Mbuthuma the way he’s playing,” Lekgwathi told iDiski Times.
“The boy is working very hard. I think he deserves credit for the goals because he always creates space for them, works for them. You look at the goals that they score, Mbuthuma will make sure that he creates space, takes the defenders away. And for Appollis, Rele and [Tshepang] Moremi, it’s easy for them to score goals because of the mobile defender, the way the boy [Mbuthuma] works.
“So, for me, I think you look at their form, they’ve been scoring all these previous games, and I think nothing can stop them to continue scoring, as long as they work hard like they are now. The boys work hard, they defend, they attack, and I think there’s something that motivates them. With the league going to an end, those boys, they deserve awards.
“I think even for them, they are working for that. They are close to getting awards like Player of the Season and others. I think both of them are going to get nominated, and they are working hard for that and playing against Kaizer Chiefs, winning Man of the Match and scoring goals is going to give them that opportunity, to win The Footballer of the Season [award].
“I think there’s a motivation behind all that, even Bafana Bafana and the World Cup coming.”
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