Mamelodi Sundowns defender admits their draw with Golden Arrows does not meet the club's standards - 'I honestly feel we let ourselves down'

Mamelodi Sundowns played to a draw against Golden Arrows with former coach Manqoba Mngqithi at the helm, their first draw of the PSL season. They have dropped only eight points in 21 games, and are leading Orlando Pirates by 16 points.

One man who cannot stop scoring is Lucas Ribeiro, he scored his 12th goal of the season from the penalty spot to equalise and extends his lead in the Golden Boot race.

Miguel Cardoso was unhappy with the officiating after the game and felt that his side had done enough to get the maximum points.

However, defender Mosa Lebusa felt after the match that the league leaders had let themselves down, especially with their first half display.

“We could have started better, you know. I mean, we started on the wrong foot, and they put us under pressure. Once they got the goal, they had the momentum, and we - I honestly feel we let ourselves down. It was very uncharacteristic of us. We should have started the game better. I mean, you could see in the second half how we went at them, kept them in their half, and tried to create chances. Yeah, we were just unfortunate and not scoring in the second half,” said Lebusa on Mamelodi Sundowns TV.

“I mean, every game is difficult, you know? To us, it’s more like we lost two points, you know? So yeah, like I said, more than anything else, we just disappointed ourselves. I think we could have done better, we could have won the match, and we could have defended better.”

“But I mean, second half - I think second half, the guys were brilliant, you know. We kept them knocking; they couldn’t handle our pressure. I just felt that we ran out of time. We’re looking forward to Saturday, and hopefully, on Saturday, we start better and end the game better. So yeah, in front of our supporters, I think we’re going to give them a good run.”

There are 27 points still available in the league for the Brazilians and nine games to go but Sundowns’ lead at the top has been reduced by two points after their nearest challengers, Orlando Pirates, beat Chippa United on Wednesday evening.

This leaves the Soweto side still 16 points behind the log leaders but they have four matches in hand.

This comes after Miguel Cardoso won his second Coach of the Month award since arriving in South Africa as his side smashed all before them in league action in February to open up their formidable lead.

Sundowns will now focus on cup competition as they are in the last eight of the Nedbank Cup. Their next opponent is Sekhukhune United, who advanced after Royal AM’s disqualification and had to beat MFC side who had to wait for months to find out who their opponents were.

Babina Noko duly defeated Milford to reach the quarterfinals to face The Brazilians but will be without Sipho Mbule who is currently in the news for reported disciplinary issues and is club-tied as a loan player from the Pretoria club.