Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane full of praise for his charges after stretching their lead at the top of the PSL

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane has once again heaped praise on one of his star players following Masandawana’s victory over Bidvest Wits.

The Tshwane giants earned the victory thanks to two first half strikes courtesy of Themba Zwane and Sibusiso Vilakazi. This means that Sundowns have now built up a six-point lead at the top, albeit temporarily with Orlando Pirates set to be in action on Sunday afternoon.

However, speaking after the game, the Brazilians coach was thrilled at the result as Sundowns utterly dominated their opponents and are now one step closer to reclaiming their Premier Soccer League (PSL) crown.

“I think we started very well to be honest. We created chances, scored our first two goals, sometimes we elaborated too much, passing instead of shooting but we scored the two goals and that’s it,” Mosimane told SuperSport TV.

“The second half, you know the story, they have to react and we have to manage the game,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 53-year-old singled out Themba Zwane for his exploits on the night. Zwane has been used primarily coming off the bench by Mosimane of recent times, but he showed no signs of rust as he put on a stellar showing from start to finish.

“We have to communicate and talk to them, he did well on the side of Khama (Billiat) where Khama always plays,” Mosimane said.

“He did well helping Langerman deal with the crosses from Wits because they always bring in crosses and the last five minutes they put in crosses and we dealt with it well,” he explained.

“So, Wayne (Arendse) and Ricardo (Nascimento) did very well in defence. But Themba Zwane played very well. He started and performed,” Mosimane continued.

“He has been coming off the bench lately, but now he said coach, ‘I want to start’. He did and delivered. That’s what we need," the former Bafana Bafana mentor praised.

Furthermore, Mosimane revealed why he chose to withdraw Sibusiso Vilakazi just before the hour mark.

“It’s a heavy load. That’s why Vila (Vilakazi) was taken out. We need him. Look at the goal he scored, we need him,” he said.

“Also, Thapelo had a problem. I don’t like rotating a lot. But we need to manage the legs, it’s important,” he expressed.

All week, Mosimane has been downplaying the importance of victory against Wits, but the former Caf Coach of the Year, finally admitted the importance of walking away from Loftus Versfeld Stadium with maximum points in the bag.   

“This game was very important, I didn’t want to highlight it too much, but in the dressing room they knew about it. It gives us for the fourth year in a row a (Caf) Champions League spot,” he added.

"It also gives us a six points gap between us and Orlando Pirates,” he concluded.