Royal AM look to bring Sundowns down to earth
LONDON – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes Cristiano Ronaldo is still capable of scoring over 20 goals a season despite limiting the 37-year-old’s game time so far this season.
Ronaldo was dropped from the United squad for last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea after refusing to come on as a substitute four days previously in a 2-0 win over Tottenham.
The performance against Spurs was hailed as the best of Ten Hag’s reign so far and further evidence that United are a better team without the presence of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
But Ronaldo made a goalscoring return to the starting line-up for Thursday’s 3-0 Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol.
The Portuguese now has three goals in 13 appearances in all competitions this season.
Prospect
But Ten Hag did not rule out the prospect of him matching his 24 goals last season.
“It’s up to him,” said Ten Hag. “But I think when you collect all the chances he creates, the team creates for him in the last weeks, you see he’s still capable to get in the right positions and I know he’s still capable of finishing them so it’s possible.”
Ronaldo has made just two Premier League starts under Ten Hag with the vast majority of his minutes coming in the Europa League.
But the former Ajax boss reject
DURBAN – Royal AM will battle it out with Mamelodi Sundowns in a DStv Premiership match at the Chatsworth Stadium today.
Kick-off is at 6pm CAT. Thwihli Thwahla breathed a sigh of relief when they ended their four-match winless run across all competitions with a 3-1 win over Lamontville Golden Arrows at home on Tuesday.
The KwaZulu-Natal side is placed seventh on the DStv Premiership standings - three points behind fourth-placed Orlando Pirates and they will be determined to move closer to the chasing pack in the race for the league title.
Khabo Zondo, the Royal AM head coach, explained that they needed a morale-boosting win against Arrows ahead of their clash with Sundowns.
“We cannot deny the fact, the
Man. United’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring.
ed the suggestion he is using Europe’s second-tier competition as a way of giving Ronaldo the time on the pitch he craves.
“I don’t have a Europe team and I don’t have a Premier League team,” Ten Hag added.
“I look to the opponent, what we need against such opponent. Now I have to focus on West Ham United for Sunday (tomorrow).
“Then we will pick the team to start but also to have plan B or plan C in the pocket to win that game.
“That’s what we need finally, to win games, and, therefore, we not only need 11 players, we need the
Golden Arrows played very well. forward. It forced us to close the gaps in the stomach so that their players could not easily reach our stop,” Zondo said.
“Kobedi (Shadrack) and Phalane (Lantshene) did a great job. We needed to win, so that we could regain our confidence. To score three goals after being beaten by SuperSport and Swallows, is a commendable thing.
Happy
“We will not be happy until it is over. We are going to a difficult game that we will play against Sundowns. We have to focus our minds on it.”
Meanwhile, Sundowns bounced back to winning ways in style when they hammered Maritzburg United 5-0 away in a league game on Tuesday following their elimination from MTN8 after losing to Orlando Pirates on Sunday.
It was Masandawana’s fifth successive win in the DStv Premiership and the league log whole squad.”
After a disastrous start to his time in charge, there have been positive signs of United’s improvement under Ten Hag in recent weeks.
But they have often failed to make their dominance of the game count in the scoreline in a run of two wins from their last five league games.
“To develop the team takes time,” said Ten Hag. “You can’t go from zero to 100.
“You have to construct it from downstairs - you need the foundation before you go to the top, to the roof.” leaders are now three points clear of second-placed Richards Bay with a game in hand.
Rhulani Mokwena, Sundowns head coach, was quick to urge his charges to remain calm and he encouraged them to show the same hunger when they take on Royal AM.
Humble
“Now we just have to stay humble you know and show the same hunger in the next match, Maritzburg are very difficult to beat, especially here at Harry Gwala,” Mokwena said.
“A pitch that suits a low block and the possibility to spread themselves across the pitch and we did very well with our speed of the ball today.
“And the speed without the ball because they are a very good side, don’t take the score as an indication of the level of the opposition, we did very well today. Now is just to maintain, keep the same hunger and keep going.”