Mosimane holds up his hands and admits he got it wrong

Pitso Mosimane (right) says he got it all wrong in the first half against Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca in the Caf Champions League quarterfinal first leg over the weekend.

Sundowns will take a 1-0 lead into Saturday’s second leg in Casablanca, after Yannick Zakri’s second-half strike.

“I think I didn’t get the tactics right in the first half,” said Mosimane.

“I thought a three-man midfield of Hlompho Kekana, Sibusiso Vilakazi and Oupa Manyisa was going to help us to dominate the play ... we didn’t show bite and to be honest, we didn’t look like scoring.

“It was a totally different game for us. That is why I like the Champions League because there are totally different tactics to what we see in the PSL. We struggled in the first half to break the ice. We struggled to play like we can and I could see the players looked a bit frustrated.”

The coach changed tactics in the second half, taking a gamble with a slimmer midfield and three strikers up front, after Zakri came on for Sibusiso Vilakazi.

“I wanted to put more pressure and stress the defenders, and it finally paid off. But that team are well coached, they are organised.”

SuperSport United coach Eric Tinkler, meanwhile, was left feeling rather bitter after his side were held 0-0 at home by Zesco United in their Caf Confederation Cup quarterfinal first leg. This was after a goal was disallowed and another promising move forward was incorrectly ruled offside.

“There is a bit of bitterness and disappointment because we could be talking about something completely different with certain decisions against us in the first 20 minutes,” said the former Cape Town City mentor.

“I won’t say they were one-sided, there were a lot of errors made at both ends of the pitch and I think at this level of the competition we need better.”

Matsatsantsa will be playing for their lives this Saturday in Ndola, where they will look to push for an away goal.

“It was important to make sure we kept a clean sheet. It allows us to play when we get there and they are obviously going to play a lot more because they will have to look for the goal, but we will have to take our chances when we get there,” added Tinkler.