Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has praised his side’s work rate after they snatched maximum points from a stubborn Golden Arrows team.
The Brazilians continued their strong start to the campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Arrows at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Wednesday, courtesy of a goal from Gaston Sirino.
Sundowns have now extended their unbeaten run to seven games and reclaimed their four-point lead at the top of the DStv Premiership standings.
Mngqithi was pleased with his side’s performance and reserved special praise for Khuliso Mudau, Andile Jali and Haashim Domingo.
“We’ve always known it’s not going to be an easy one, we’re playing against a team that has not played in a very long time,” Mngqithi told SuperSport TV after the game.
“And, after our trip in DRC, we knew we’re coming up against a team that is fresher, maybe with the better conditions of the pitch we could’ve been better.
“Because now it became difficult for us to keep the ball more, to make it difficult for them to show their freshness, because the ball was bubbling all over, too many transitions … Golden Arrows becomes very dangerous.
“But that is what we expected, to be honest, but credit should be given to our boys, I think they worked very hard. There were some scary moments which, I believe, on the day we were a little bit lucky in some instances.
“But credit must also be given to the boys, I think first half we had a very good shout for a penalty, which we did not get. And for the penalty that they got, I’m not too sure but referees are also human beings, they can make mistakes,” he added.
“And at this stage I’m talking I have not even seen the footage, maybe it was a proper penalty, but the truth of the matter is that we worked very hard. We wanted the three points, we knew it was not going to be easy.
“And we were not as fresh for a team that only arrived on Monday from Congo, the boys I think worked very hard. [Khuliso] Mudau was outstanding, I was not surprised he became man of the match.
“Andile [Jali] also did well, ‘Hash’ [Haashim Domingo] also did very well, we had a lot of good performance on the day and one appreciates the three points against this team and I’m sure they are going to help us to stop all other guys who are coming.
“They can’t perform like this against us only, so I hope they perform against all other teams the way they performed because they were on fire today,” he concluded.
