Mngqithi refuses to blame his strikers for slight lull

Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi (right) has admitted he can’t really fault his free-scoring strikers, even though he would like them to convert even more chances in the weeks ahead.

To be fair to Masandawana, they have scored the second-highest number of goals together with SuperSport United - 22 – three behind Cape Town City.

The powers that be in the Sundowns technical team still expect a bit more from the trio of Themba Zwane, Peter Shalulile and Kermit Erasmus, who have been the livewires upfront for the defending champions.

On Wednesday, Shalulile scored a brace in a 2-1 win against Black Leopards, in a match where Mothobi Mvala was shown a straight red card.

“I believe we can do better up-front. We are getting a lot of chances but we are not punishing opponents as much as we should and to be honest, that is where I am a little bit worried because even when we were one-man down, we could have easily scored maybe three or four more goals. But let us not be greedy, we appreciate the three points and the fact that the boys worked hard for the comeback,” said Mngqithi.

“The team is among one of the highest-scoring teams in the league so we can’t start to fault them now. Peter gave us two goals so why would we blame the boys and say they are not scoring enough?” he added.

The Brazilians faithful have been critical of Mngqithi and his coaching team’s decision to constantly exclude captain Hlompho Kekana from the starting line-up.

Mvala, however, seems to have justified Mngqithi’s decision, even though he was sent off for a professional foul on Rodney Ramagalela on Wednesday.

“When the team went one-man down, the captain (Kekana) took a unilateral decision to go and play at centre back and he did exceptionally well. We were very impressed and I have always told people that there would be a time in the league where the captain comes back and helps the team.

“Mvala did what he had to do and took one for the team. The boy helped us because Ramagalela is quick and he is also very clinical in front of goal.”