Downs coach hails the prodigal son

THE RETURN of skipper Hlompho Kekana to the Mamelodi Sundowns lineup proved a boost to the club as the reigning African champions gained a valuable away point against Esperance in Tunisia on Wednesday night‚ said coach Pitso Mosimane.

Kekana was one of three players back in the side after missing the previous Caf Champions League group stage meeting with the Tunisian club‚ which Sundowns lost 2-1 at home in Atteridgeville at the start of the month.

Kekana’s influence in the middle‚ said the coach‚ was sorely missing from that game on June 2 and with him back to marshal the game‚ the team looked much better organised and were able to control much of the proceedings.

“At home we just slept a little in the first minutes and then we gave them an opportunity to score an early goal and we gave them a penalty again near the end‚” Mosimane said after Wednesday game.

“Otherwise if there was no penalty or opportunity to score in the first three minutes we would not have lost to them. But the good thing was that we got three players back – we got Kekana back‚ [Yannick] Zakri and Anthony [Laffor].

“It really made a big difference. But unfortunately we lost Thabo [Nthethe] on the day of the match with a headache.”

It proved a bruising midfield battle with both defence tight and scoring chances at a minimum – except for one gilt-edge chance after a horror mistake by the Esperance defence that Sundowns managed to squander.

“I think we played tactically well‚ the game was well organised from both teams‚” said Mosimane.

Sundowns remain three points behind Esperance in Group C and are level with St George of Ethiopia‚ who they visit next on July 1.

“We have to be clear and see the bigger picture and progress slowly until the six [group] matches finish‚ and when they finish if we are number one it will be better‚ but even if we are second we will [still] move on‚” said Mosimane. — TMG