Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says he was disappointed with their 1-1 draw against Wydad Casablanca in their opening Caf Champions League Group C encounter.
The Brazilians currently third in the group with one point after their opening group stage fixture while the defending champions occupy second place with a point.
Sundowns opened the scoring when Ibrahim Comara put the ball into his own net from Sibusiso Vilakazi’s cross before Ismail El Haddad equalised 15 minutes later.
Mosimane felt his side should’ve walked away with all three points, but he feels that ‘very crucial mistakes’ let his side down, which ultimately led to the equalising goal.
‘To answer your question directly‚ honestly speaking I’m very disappointed with the result,’ Mosimane told Timeslive.
‘Because there is no reason why we should not win this game. I respect our opponents‚ but tonight we should have won the game.
‘It’s over-elaboration. So many passes. It’s OK‚ it’s our style of play. We know that they cannot match that.
‘But I’m disappointed because I know what’s going to happen in Morocco. They will put pressure‚ they will stress the referees‚ they will do everything.
‘We needed to kill the game. We made a very‚ very‚ very crucial mistake. Without that mistake how were they going to score?
‘So once we have the opportunity‚ seize the opportunity. Because you cannot say‚ “We took a point off the champions of Africa”. What about the champions of Africa? The game is on the pitch.
‘Win this game. We should have won this game. There’s no excuse not to win this game.
‘Not to say I’m disrespecting. The coach [Faouzi Benzarti] is a big coach. But Sundowns must seize the opportunity.”
Mosimane conceded that Wydad were superbly organised, quick‚ simple and devastatingly effective in attack.
The Sundowns mentor says he was impressed by how organised the Moroccans were while also praising their ‘tactical discipline’.
‘What I can praise is you must give credit to the champions for their organisation. The organisation‚ the tactical discipline,’ he added.
‘When it’s a PSL game somebody’s going to crack‚ and we could score. This is a Champions League game‚ these are the few best teams in Africa.’
Mamelodi Sundowns will next take on Bloemfontein Celtic in their final Absa Premiership game of the season on Saturday, with kick-off set for 3pm.
