Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane admits that fatigue is beginning to be a major factor for his side during their congested fixture schedule.
The Brazilians managed to secure all three points at Athlone Stadium after securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Stellenbosch FC on Wednesday evening through an early goal from Themba Zwane.
The victory moves Sundowns back up to second place in the Absa Premiership standings and they are now four points behind log-leaders Kaizer Chiefs.
Mosimane explained his decision behind substituting both Gaston Sirino and Zwane in the second half, admitting that he wants his players fresh for the upcoming fixture against Orlando Pirates.
‘Tough one, we fought hard, unfortunately, the game of Al Ahly took a lot from us. You can see in the last minutes we didn’t have the legs but only the heart was there for the guys,’ Mosimane told SuperSport TV after the game.
‘They showed resilience, they fought you know. You could see that Themba Zwane, [Gaston] Sirino, I had to take them off because I knew, in the end, they will never help us.
‘I know our supporters are not happy when I take Themba Zwane and Sirino out, we have a game on Saturday, it’s too many games, we’re playing well-rested teams here, so you gotta do what you have to do.
‘But, ja, the boys at the back [Motjeka] Madisha and Ricardo [Nascimento] showed professionalism, class, experience. Denis [Onyango] came to the party in the last minute. AJ [Andile Jali] and ‘Keke’ [Hlompho Kekana] they were strong, Anele [Ngcongca] is always doing his job. It was good.
‘Unfortunately, we lost ‘Langer’ [Langerman] because Ali [Meza] could have given us something, you could see in the last 15 minutes but now he had to track back and deal with [Nyiko] Mobbie on the side.
‘Unfortunately, we didn’t have the edge, we needed one more person you know, I could have put Mosa Lebusa but I couldn’t because my subs were killed by Pitso Mkhulise’s sub at the early stage.
‘I was looking for a sub and they said, “No you’re done”, and I said, “Ive got only two”, they said, “No”… I forgot “Pitso”. They [Stellenbosch] fought and wanted to win but I think we wanted it more than them, to be honest.’
