Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has been sadenned by the resignation of Kaizer Chiefs head coach Steve Komphela.
The 50-year-old mentor announced his departure on Saturday evening after fans had stormed the pitch at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, demanding his head after missing out on the Nedbank Cup final.
Nonetheless, Mosimane, who also missed out on a place in the final following defeat on Sunday afternoon, as Maritzburg United came from behind to beat the Tshwane giants 3-1, revealed his disappointment in seeing his rival vacate his position.
“Yeah, I’m sad. Very sad,” Mosimane said after the game.
“He’s a big character, he’s a big guy, he’s a good man. You know, I’m sad to lose one of our own,” he added.
“It’s not nice, you know... maybe even if he won the Nedbank Cup, he would still have gone,” Mosimane expressed.
Meanwhile, with Sundowns crashing out of the Nedbank Cup, their focus can now shift firmly on their PSL title ambitions. Sundowns need only four points from their remaining games to win the title, and speaking to SuperSport TV during the post-match interview, Mosimane admits that the league title is Sundowns’ priority.
“What is important? The league, where you have already played 27 games and to finish on top or the Nedbank cup where you have played four games, what is your priority?” Mosimane said.
“I’m not saying that because we lost, we want to win, but what is bigger? The league! So, we need to try again, we controlled the game in the first half," he reflected.
Gaston Sirino opened the scoring before Lebohang Maboe equalised just before the interval. Sirino though, would eventually be given his marching orders for a second bookable offence that would subsequently turn the tide in favour of the home side.
“There was never a problem for us. It is the red card. That’s the way that the referee saw that, so we should accept it,” he added.
The turnaround was completed when Mxolisi Kunene and Fortune Makaringe found the back of the net late in the second half, confirming the Team of Choice’s place in their very first cup final, against Free State Stars.
“Congratulations to them. They deserve it more than us. They need the cup, we need the league. Not to say we didn’t want the cup, we wanted the cup, but you can’t get everything. You must take whatever is on offer and fight again. We can win on Wednesday,” he continued.
Sundowns will now remain in Pietermaritzburg as they return to same venue on Wednesday evening to lock horns with Fadlu Davids’ men in the league, and Mosimane has indicated that changes are to be expected ahead of the game.
“We have to change for Wednesday because Anele (Ngcongca) has been kicked out, Gaston (Sirino) has the red card. Then we can get the captain back and we will see. 'Vila' (Vilakazi) has a hamstring that has been giving him a hard time, the last two games he could not finish them,” he indicated.
“I need him for Wednesday, so we had to substitute him today, and I need Percy’s legs for Wednesday because we have to be realistic and humble enough to say the game is gone and we have bigger things to go for. We have the (Caf) Champions League, the Nedbank Cup is gone. We tried our best,” Mosimane concluded.
