Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane was pleased to have silenced his doubters after clinching a third successive Absa Premiership title.

The Sundowns mentor guided his side to a third consecutive league title and record-extending 10th following their 3-0 victory over Black Leopards after Kaizer Chiefs failed to beat Baroka on the final day.

However, Mosimane admits that it’s been a tough campaign and that Amakhosi gave them a real scare under the guidance of Ernst Middendorp.

‘Okay, of course very emotional, err ‘La Decima’, I think it’s best way to give Absa a good send off…I think we’ve won it the most,’ Mosimane told SuperSport TV after the match.

‘It was difficult because we never had a chance to go up [on the log], we only had one chance for half an hour where Chiefs lost to Wits, that was the only sniff we had.

‘But as I said I said to you when we lost to Cape Town City. What can I say, if you play for Sundowns, you have to play every week that’s why some of the players struggle to keep up because there’s a lot of work and I’m too demanding, I push the players.

‘And some crumble, some run away, some cannot take me because I’m too harsh on them but if you want to win the title, we’re here to win cups but ja.

‘To be honest I’m not so happy like when we won it against Free State Stars [last season], I’m a little bit emotional on this one because of many important things inside that makes me very emotional to be honest, sometimes a little bit sad but it’s okay. I won the trophy.

‘A lot of people didn’t believe in the team, a lot of people didn’t believe in me, only the yellow nation, those who come here every time, they are the people who support us but first I must thank my family.

‘We had a lot of pressure inside and outside, people doubting me but these boys made it possible for me to look back at those people to say what are you saying now? Look at me now. But it’s not about being vindictive. It’s a message, it’s a football message,’ he went on.

‘When it was tough, it was tough for me inside the bubble, very tough but God loves us all. I’d like to congratulate Kaizer Chiefs, I’m telling you they gave us a scare, coach Ernst Middendorp brought a different game [to Kaizer Chiefs].’