Sundowns need to take their chances, says Pitso
PITSO MOSIMANE left Loftus on Saturday disappointed, but he slept in a better mood as Mamelodi Sundowns retained their spot at the top of the PSL standings.
The Brazilians dropped two points in the goalless draw with Bloemfontein Celtic, but Wits failed to make the most of that slip-up by losing 3-2 to Cape Town City at home on Saturday night. The Clever Boys were leapfrogged by Orlando Pirates who now lie in second place – a point behind the Brazilians who have played one game less than the other title contenders.
“What’s key in the final stretch is the belief,” Mosimane, said. “You keep trying. You keep creating chances. But you must convert, because when times are like this you must take your opportunities. We create so many chances and we never take them. That’s what I said last week and the week before. We need to take opportunities. If you don’t take them, it creates a little bit of problems. It creates stress. But that’s the stress that comes when you’re closer to the finish line. The race is still a long way from being finished.”
The Brazilians lead that race with Pirates, Wits and City breathing down their neck. They’ll have an opportunity to create some distance between them and the chasing pack in their clash with City at Athlone Stadium tomorrow. These two teams have produced memorable matches in their previous meetings. Last week they played to an entertaining 3-2 clash that was won by Sundowns in Pretoria, and no doubt City will be looking to avenge that defeat in the Mother City.
“Don’t be emotional,” Mosimane said, in explaining how his team will approach tomorrow’s match.
“Don’t personalise things. Keep going. It’s a long way. We (championship contenders) will cancel each other somewhere, somehow. We can find ourselves in a situation where we don’t look at the match against Celtic as two points dropped, but a big point gained. It’s the way it is. I am happy that we’re rotating the players and yet we keep the same attitude of attacking. I am happy with that because the games are coming in thick and fast.”
City have scored eight goals in their last three games to take their tally to 37.
The positive for Sundowns is that they boast the best defensive record in SA. It won’t just be the best attack against the best defence, it’ll be a clash of two teams who want to impose themselves on their opponents which will produce a lot of end-to-end action.
“Everybody says that you have to use speed against Sundowns’ defenders. I’ve always had these type of defenders, defenders who aren’t fast but nothing happens.
It’s five years now, somebody must take advantage. But nothing happens,” Mosimane said.