Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi insists his side were a bit more clinical than Swallows FC, saying they could have scored a few more goals at the Dobsonville Stadium on Wednesday.
The Brazilians managed to open an 11-point lead over second-placed Royal AM following their 4-2 victory over the Dube Birds with 54 points after 23 games, while Dylan Kerr’s side are placed 15th with 18 points from 23 matches.
Mngqithi was delighted with his side’s overall performance against Swallows but admitted there were a few moments when he was a bit worried.
“This game was a little bit of a banana skin,” Mngqithi told SuperSport TV after the game. “We score, they score immediately. We got worried but I think we controlled the game very well. There were many good moments from our buildup where we had numerical superiority and could find the playing angles.
“Second half they came hyped up and tried to press us from the top and I give credit to AJ and Surprise for coming short and overloading the midfield when they decided to play with a 3-5-2, which gave us a little bit more latitude to go into the wide channels.
“Very good performance by the boys, but I still believe we could have scored a few more goals if we were a little bit more clinical. Though I think at some stage the pitch was a little bit bumpy. Some of the actions in the final third were disturbed by the pitch itself. But a very good performance from the boys.
“I think we stick to our playing concept. We don’t rush football and play too many long balls. That is very important to us because our shape must always give us possibilities for our defensive shape. If we are wide open and have long distances it becomes difficult to counter-press. If you are playing teams that are playing on transition then you open yourself up to more transitions.
“The moment we played closer and had that extra pass in our game we started to gain control of the game and we made them lose the confidence that they had. Second half, Dylan did a very good job to hype them up. There were a few scary moments but fortunately, our boys held it.”
