Mamelodi Sundowns cheated against Chippa United - Mosimane

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has admitted to his side being dishonest in their 3-0 win over Chippa United at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Nicholus Lukhubeni’s early goal, as well as Themba Zwane and Sibusiso Vilakazi's second-half strikes saw Sundowns run past a Chippa side that spent 33 minutes with 10 men following a red card to Sandile Mthethwa.

The win saw Sundowns return to position two on the Premier Soccer League (PSL) standings, but they could slide back to third-place if Orlando Pirates beat Black Leopards on Sunday.

Mosimane confessed that they had to employ sinister tactics against Chippa towards the end of the match.

“And we were cheating all the time in the last 10 minutes,” Mosimane told SuperSport TV.

“The ball fell on us when we were cheating, the final third, the pass, the control it fell to the player that I think has got the brains and he can do something, [Gaston] Sirino, but all what he did was miscontrol, miscontrol and miscontrol. It’s unbelievable. But I am not happy with the last 30 minutes.”

However, when Sundowns were almost assured of victory, Mosimane pulled out Zwane 11 minutes after he scored from the penalty spot to save the player for their upcoming games.

The Brazilians host Bloemfontein Celtic in a league match on Wednesday before taking on Vaal University in the Nedbank Cup on Saturday.

“That’s why we took out Themba Zwane,” Mosimane said.

“He was very angry at me because he says why take me out after I scored and I said it’s not about you scoring but about the Wednesday’s [game] against Bloemfontein Celtic and we have a game on Saturday. We have three games in six days. So we are monitoring him. He wants to play because he scored. But I had to do what I had to do and rest him.”

Before Sirino let down Mosimane on the “cheating” plan, the coach wanted to substitute the Uruguayan but was forced to substitute goalkeeper Denis Onyango who had pulled his hamstring.

“I also wanted to take Sirino out but Danny [Onyango] forced me to sub him because he has this tight hamstring that always gives him problems and we can’t play these big games without Danny,” added Mosimane.

“He can have a rest when we play VUT but the game on Wednesday is very important for us. So if he is ok he needs to play, but if it’s a little dicey he doesn’t have to play.”

Saturday’s result was Chippa’s fifth straight match without tasting victory.