Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi was not too pleased with the pitch at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Wednesday and picked Khuliso Mudau as his Man of the Match.
Masandawana have collected another win in the DStv Premiership after beating Golden Arrows 1-0 to extend their lead to four points over second-placed SuperSport United.
Downs kept their unbeaten record, having played seven games without a loss and without conceding a single goal in the DStv Premiership so far this season, even though the pitch made things harder for the defending champions.
“I think it was a very tough match. We expected that it’s not going to be easy,” he said after the game.
“I think they didn’t have a game in 14 days and that has given them a little bit of latitude.
“They started with the team we anticipated from the game against Sekhukhune, they were much sharper, they were faster on every duel.
“But we expected that. What made the situation a little bit more difficult was the pitch did not allow us to play our normal football, which could’ve helped us to maybe take the steam away from them by keeping possession.
“But unfortunately the conditions were not very good and we made a lot of mistakes technically, which exposed us to a lot of counter attacks and we know how dangerous they can be on counter attacks.
“Overall, I believe the boys worked very hard and they gave a very good account of themselves.”
Mngqithi also revealed that he felt Khuliso Mudau deserved his Man of the Match award after putting in a great shift.
“When he came out, we did say that he’s probably the Man of the Match, because he had an outstanding performance on the day,” the coach added.
“He is growing in leaps and bounds and we are happy as a group, because we want the competition between him and Thapelo to stay strong because it’s good for us, to have two people (in the same position) who can always give a good account of themselves.
“We are happy with how Mudau is coming up and we are hopeful he’s more consistent in his performances because he helped us a lot.”
The DStv Premiership leaders will now shift their focus to CAF Champions League when they welcome Maniema Unions at Loftus Versveld Stadium on Sunday.
