Mamelodi Sundowns have to be smart against Kaizer Chiefs - Mosimane

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has praised his side for neutralising Highlands Park in their Premier Soccer League (PSL) win but insisted they don’t have to beat Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.

A solitary strike courtesy of Mauricio Affonso downed the Lions of the North as Sundowns remain unbeaten in the 2019/20 season, and Mosimane has showered the Uruguayan forward with praise.

On the other hand, Owen Da Gama bemoaned his troops’ failure to consolidate as they conceded late in the encounter played at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

“I think it’s a tough team to play against and I don’t remember anybody scoring more than two goals against Highlands, they’ve got the body and the physique, they have the will to fight you,” Mosimane told SuperSport TV.

“But how many chances did we get? Kekana missed alone, Thapelo missed in the second minute, he missed again there and Themba Zwane missed – I think we deserved it.

“We hit the post twice I think and it’s tough, okay we didn't expect it to come to be honest. That’s the beauty of football. You wait and it comes at the end. So, we did well, it’s good behaviour or character of a championship team. We are a championship team.”

Speaking of their next clash against coach Ernst Middendorp’s troops, ‘Jingles’ made it clear they don’t want to lose to the Soweto giants, but they will not be emotional.

“We don’t have to beat Kaizer Chiefs, why do we have to beat Kaizer Chiefs. We don’t have to beat them to win the league, we’ve got so many points to play for,” he continued.

“Even if we lose to Chiefs, lose against Orlando Pirates and win the rest we’ll still win the league. So, we’re not going to be emotional about this situation

“We don’t want to lose to them, our supporters don’t want to lose to them and we play home. We want to win but I don’t want to be emotional about it. I think we need to be smart because we know how to win the championship.”

On the other hand, ‘ODG’ was unhappy after his men failed to follow the instructions, saying their behaviour is unacceptable in the top flight.

“With a minute to go and you defend the way we defended, I am very disappointed. All credit and congratulations to Sundowns, they pushed hard and worked well, they have quality players, but in saying that we had a point and we had to defend for another minute,” Da Gama told SuperSport TV.

"We thought we have got it right but once again we just left a player on his own and he scored. With regards to our attack, I thought we went too wide at times and we got the ball in an attacking position but we were going wide for what reason?

“I am very disappointed to lose in this fashion.  You’d expect Sundowns to outplay you, beat you 3-0 or 4-0, no problem but not to lose in this fashion.

“We’ll keep on learning and trying our best and we’ll try and rectify that.”