Mamelodi Sundowns Co Head Coach Manqoba Mngqithi was full of praise for Lebohang Maboe, who was on the scoresheet for their win against Chippa United on the weekend.
The 2-0 victory saw Masandawana go 5 points clear at the top of the DStv Premiership table.
Mngqithi says it was one of those games that Sundowns could have won by many goals, but considering they were playing in tribute to Motjeka Madisha, their former number 2, perhaps it was fate that they would only score twice.
“It is one of those games where our planning and preparations matched what we thought, we created a lot of good moments in the game which should have given us more goals,” Mngqithi said after their win on Sunday.
“I feel like Madisha did not want us to score more than two goals as we were celebrating his life. I don’t recall a game this season where we created so many chances.”
“It was encouraging to see Ricardo [Nascimento] back, AJ [Andile Jali] starting after a while, [Sphelele] Mkhulise back and also welcoming Rivaldo [Coetzee] back from his absence. It is nice to see the players back in numbers.”
“Ever since I have been at Sundowns I have never seen the club playing so many players halfway through the season, so far I think we have played more than thirty players”.
Mngqithi had special praise for Maboe, who opened his account for the season with the first goal of the game.
“I always say that in life you must be a good person before you are a coach or a player and Lebo is one of those boys, well-raised and his attitude is unbelievable.”
“We as coaches did not want to play him as a right-back, it was just circumstance. He works very hard and is intelligent and as an eight he has the right intensity. I am very encouraged and any coach would be happy to work with the boy and is always willing to fight and never complains.”
Sundowns now turn their focus onto their defence of the Nedbank Cup, when they play Stellenbosch in the round of 32 on Wednesday.
