Junior Khanye says Andile Jali deserved his red card against former club and praised Steve Komphela for making life difficult for Rulani Mokwena’s side in the MTN8 quarter-final.
Jali was sent off in the seventh minute of his return to Pretoria for the first time since leaving at the end of June, receiving a red card for a reckless foul on Tebogo Mokoena in a game his former side eventually won 1-0 over the weekend.
Khanye, who is an outspoken fan of Jali, admitted that the new Swallows captain went in too hard and deserved his marching orders.
“I think the game was balanced when it started until Andile Jali got the red card. He deserved the red card, it was a red card,” Khanye said on iDiski TV.
“I love Andile but that was a red card and after that you could see it was one way. Sundowns dominated, enjoyed ball-possession but without creating a lot of chances because Steve closed the pockets.
“They had to go wide and Rulani doesn’t like a team that plays wide but in the second half he went wide. He balanced things he didn’t become predictable. He went wide, central the wide and it worked for them to get the goal.
“But I believe that goal was offside but a good pass from Ribeiro, a good run and finish from Mshishi. Irrespective of the goal being offside Sundowns dominated but they never created many chances.”
Despite being a man down, Mokwena praised Komphela’s set-up, saying if it was another team Sundowns would probably have scored more.
“I think he made it very difficult for Rhulani Mokoena because truly speaking if Rulani Mokwena was playing another team he was going to win with many goals. But Steve made it very difficult for him,” he added.
“I think Steve came into this game and he maybe told his players during training that if they could close the pockets they will quieten Sundowns. They will never create many chances.
“They can be dominant in the middle because Steve has players like Andile Jali, Mtshali, Ntsako Makhubela and Mthethwa as well. He plays sort like Sundowns in a diamond shape with Jali, Ntsako and Mtshali in front of him.
“Those are ball players but we need to be honest the quality is not the same. Like I said his approach for this game was similar to that of Rulani Mokwena.
“Steve made it very difficult. His team didn’t play well after the red card but tactically he was spot on to stop Sundowns because they didn’t create many chances.
You can listen to Khanye’s full analysis of the game on IDiski TV official YouTube channel.
