Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has cited Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola after overcoming Richards Bay’s low block in their last-minute win on Wednesday.
Mokwena heavily rotated his side, with the DStv Premiership match against the Natal Richboyz sandwiched between their CAF Champions League quarter-final ties with Young Africans.
Sundowns dominated proceedings against Bay, but struggled to carve out many clear-cut chances before Junior Mendieta scored late in injury-time, with Mokwena insisting they needed to be patient, as seen by Premier League giants, Man City many times.
“Important win for the team, the group because of the many rotations we made today,” he told SuperSport TV.
“At the beginning of the season I said to the players that I’m not happy that when we rotate we lose personality and we also drop points.
“So I’ve got to congratulate them because they worked very, very hard today against a resolute team.
“We didn’t have enough time to prepare but of course it’s never an excuse. I’m proud of the effort, I’m proud of the energy. I’m proud of the never-say-die attitude.
“It’s very important when you play against a low block, you’ve got to keep going and going and don’t lose the emphasis, don’t lose the feeling that the goal can come because it’s difficult.
“I watched Man City vs Arsenal a few days ago and you know even Pep says ‘to beat a low block you’ve got to kill somebody’ and that’s how hard it is.
“But they did very well, they believed, they pushed and I’m very proud of the subs today. Lesiba [Nku] came on and did well, Neo [Maema] came on and did well, I thought Mendieta came on and did very, very well.
“It was a good performance all around from everybody and I’m very, very proud of them.”
Sundowns now switch their focus back to the CAF Champions League, where they will Yanga in the second leg of their quarter-final on Friday evening.
