Downs wary of difficult Citizens

ONLY two clubs have the honour of saying they have beaten Mamelodi Sundowns this season – Cape Town City and Ajax Cape Town. City’s victory was arguably sweeter. It was registered at Loftus Stadium, exactly seven days after Sundowns won the CAF Champions League title in Alexandria, Egypt.

Sundowns face the Citizens for the second time this season at Athlone Stadium tomorrow (8pm), knowing which players to keep an eye on to avoid dropping points for the second time in the space of 48 hours after their two-day match with Chippa United ended goalless.

A power failure at Loftus meant that Sundowns had to finish off Tuesday night’s match with Chippa yesterday morning, a time when the two sides should have been having a recovery session.

“[City] are a difficult team to play against. They have a very good attack. You know the two who cause problems – Lebogang Manyama and Aubrey Ngoma. There’s [Lehlohonolo] Majoro also,” said Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane yesterday.

“We really have to look after them, but how far can you look after them? Our focus is to test their defence to see if they can stop our attack. They also have to worry about us.”

He added: “They have a coach [Eric Tinkler] who really wants to prove himself and show that at [Orlando] Pirates he was not given an opportunity. He is doing exceptionally well.”

Fifth-placed Sundowns, who missed out on an opportunity to go top of the Absa Premiership table yesterday, will train today before travelling to the Mother City. Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana is suspended, but Tiyani Mabunda returns to fill the void.

Chippa coach Dan Malesela, meanwhile, described yesterday’s 48-minute match as a good training session ahead of their clash with Platinum Stars at Royal Bafokeng Stadium tomorrow (8pm).

In another fixture tomorrow, Bidvest Wits will host Bloemfontein Celtic at Bidvest Stadium at 8pm.