Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane praised the maturity shown by Sphelele Mkhulise and Keletso Makgalwa in their victory over a physical Stellenbosch side on Wednesday night.
The Brazilians came from 1-0 down to secure a 3-1 win over the Cape side in their league clash at Loftus on Wednesday.
Former Kaizer Chiefs striker Ryan Moon fired his side into the lead early on in the game but the defending Absa Premiership champions fired back in the second half as Themba Zwane won a dubious penalty which he converted himself.
Downs then had their two youngsters to thank for sealing the points as Mkhulise and Makgalwa both scored in the closing stages to wrap up the game for Mosimane.
Speaking to SuperSport TV after the encounter, Mosimane praised his young chargers who stepped up after the Downs coach made nine changes to deal with their congested fixture schedule.
‘We upped it a little bit [in the second-half], I had to be harsh a little bit in the dressing room, raise my voice. You gotta know that we made nine changes and the guys must play because you can’t be waiting for Sirino, Kekana, Langerman, Mosa and them to help us all the time. They [youngsters] have to play,’ said Mosimane.
‘They delivered, they know also that it is their chance to play. But the difference was that Keletso [Makgalwa] and ‘Pitso’ [Sphelele Mkhulise], you know I hear sometimes people praising their MDC boys, we can also start talking about our MDC boys,’ he continued.
‘’Pitso’ is a similar goal he scored in the [CAF] Champions League when we played the Angolans here and remember I played him as a [position] eight and moved him, but the eight that ends up there is unbelievable, like an Iniesta hey, it’s unbelievable. He’s good.
‘But Keletso knows how to score goals. One thing you must know about Keletso, if he can control [the ball] in the box, he always finishes, at training. So that’s the difference. We pushed and also thanks to our people here, OK, they were getting impatient a little bit with me but it’s okay, I know Sundowns people, it’s okay, they are my people, I’ve been with them for the last seven years, sometimes they don’t really believe but then the voice comes up after the goals, it’s normal.’
Mosimane also admitted that it was a tough encounter as Stellenbosch fought hard but he highlighted his belief that the youngsters are ready to step up.
‘They [Stellenbosch] are fighting, they gave us competition, it’s okay but if you play the team that played tonight and they score three [goals], what else do you want? It’s the same team that beat AmaZulu here when we had the game of [CAF] Champions League, they are maturing, they are coming up, we trust them, we believe in them, they are coming up nice.’
