Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Rivaldo Coetzee says they were well prepared to deal with Kaizer Chiefs after studying the previous meeting between the two sides in the MTN8 in August.

The Brazilians moved to the top of the DStv Premiership standings after claiming a 2-0 win over Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld Stadium this past Sunday through goals from Grant Kekana and Peter Shalulile.

Coetzee, who was named man of the match, praised his side’s defensive work rate to nullify Amakhosi’s attacks.

“We came into this game knowing what to expect,” Coetzee told SuperSport TV after the game.

“We knew they would play more on the counter. I think our rest defence was proper today and we didn’t give them a chance.”

When asked about the possibility of earning a place in the South African national team, Coetzee insisted that he is only focused on improving his performance.

“For me, I’m just trying to improve every game. I think the international break gives you that extra time to do some more individual work to improve ourselves. From a team perspective,” he added.

“It is always a tough game. We did analysis on our MTN8 match against them before we came into the game, so we knew where they want to play. But, also for us, we knew which spaces to use. We expected them to come with a back five which they did do for most of the game. I think we prepared well.”

Mamelodi Sundowns will take on TS Galaxy in their next DStv Premiership match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday, 19 September, with kick-off set at 5pm.