Sundowns and Pirates sing Onyango’s praises

NAMIBIAN-born striker Peter Shalulile and Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango were showered with praises at the post-match press conference, but there were several others who contributed handsomely to Mamelodi Sundowns' 2-0 win at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

Classy striker Shalulile scored the two matchwinning goals and Onyango saved at least as many at a time when Pirates' pressure was on the verge of taking its toll. There was one Onyango effort that required lightning-fast reflex action after a ball deflected off his supporting defence.

Apart from Shalulile and Onyango, there were five-star performances from Rushine de Reuck, Lyle Lakay and Grant Kekana, and these collectively helped Sundowns retain their unbeaten run and rack up another clean sheet.

Centre-back De Reuck marshalled the defence well and moved in with excellent timing to stem the flow of attacks when it approached his goalmouth.

Lakay was moved from defence to midfield and his long-range clearances offered attacking options. One such crossfield clearance turned out to be the assist for Shalulile’s second goal.

Kekana worked tirelessly in front of the team's rearguard and often moved into midfield positions to stop Pirates' attacking sorties down the middle.

However, both the Brazilians and Pirates coaches singled out the contribution of Onyango.

“One must give credit to Denis, and maybe that’s why he is Africa’s No 1," said Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi.

“He kept us in the game, and he made some sterling saves. Those saves now look like we had the game in our hands, but the truth of the matter is if he did not make those saves, the game could have turned out differently.”

Pirates assistant coach Fadlu Davids also sang Onyango's praises.

“They (Sundowns) have a top, top goalkeeper,” said Davids.

“He should have been the man of the match – he made two, three top-class saves.

“We learnt lessons today and these we have to take. We need to be more clinical in these moments. Sundowns had two moments, and good moments too. They took it, and that was the difference on the day.” Sundowns central midfielder Andile Jali won the man of the match award for a sterling performance in midfield. He was equally effective on attack and defence.

Mngqithi was pleased with the outcome. He said Sundowns are looking to consolidate their hold on the Premiership standings ahead of the midseason break.

“One is hoping that, because we are likely to play between 19 and 20 games before the Christmas break, it should give us a little bit of a chance to go to the Champions League knowing we have collected enough points. It is never going to be easy. It is why we take each game as it comes,” Mngqithi said.

“Last season we also earned 13 points in this (early season) cycle, which is always very important. We dropped two points against Chippa.’’