Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi insists the refereeing was “very poor” after his side succumbed to a last-gasp equaliser against Baroka on Monday evening, while Bakgaga coach Kgoloko Thobejane laments his side’s poor finishing.

Sundowns missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of the DStv Premiership to 20 points after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Bakgaga.

Lyle Lakay scored the opener early in the second half and, despite the left back smashing the woodwork on three separate occasions, they could not find the second. This left the door open for Richard Mbulu to snatch the equaliser with a wonderful volley in the closing stages.

“Ja, it’s football, sometimes you see things that you thought you will never see, Rushine [De Reuck] and the opposition player go for a header, Rushine gets a yellow card, he goes out,” Mngqithi told SuperSport TV after the game.

“They are not treated, Rushine has to stay out, the opposition must be inside. That was the first incident.

“The next incident, ‘AJ’ [Andile Jali] is fouled with an elbow, the referee instead of giving us a free kick, because that’s a foul and the ball is the opposition’s ball. It’s appalling, but nonetheless.

“We have not lost the match but the refereeing was very poor today, very poor. I still want to see whether [Erwin] Saavedra was offside when he laid that ball to Peter [Shalulile] because from where I was sitting I thought it was never an offside.

“But in football you must accept these decisions because maybe one day they favour you, another day they favour somebody else. But today was a bit emotional, I think the referees were not at their best, I must be honest.”

Watch Mngqithi’s full interview here:

Meanwhile, Baroka head coach Kgoloko Thobejane admitted that his side’s wastefulness in front of goal is costing them.

“Ja, but really sometimes, it was our game, first half miss half chances, with a penalty, it’s a goal when it’s at the back of the net,” Thobejane told SuperSport TV.

“So, we miss it, we have to give them motivation to say, ‘Let’s go on boys, we can make it’. Second half they caught us very early but you know what.

“If the referee is still saying on and on we were hoping we can score, at the end we got it. With one point [it’s better than nothing] because the position is not good.

“At home we need to declare it a slaughterhouse but there’s only one challenge in football, that’s the one killing us, finishing! Finishing! Finishing!

“But you can see Sundowns with that scorcher, that boy [Lakay] is perfect, with the set piece, so good.”

Watch the full interview here: