Mamelodi Sundowns Manqoba Mngqithi was not fully satisfied with his team’s performance in their 2-0 victory in the DStv Premiership against Cape Town City in the Mother City on Wednesday evening.
It was a first league win for Sundowns in four matches against City, the three points secured by a Lyle Lakay goal in the ninth minute and a goal by Keletso Makgalwa in the 83rd minute.
There were some aspects of play which pleased Mngqithi, including the clean sheet his side kept.
And he also spoke of his satisfaction at the way his players were able to nullify the Cape Town City threats such as Fagrie Lakay, Craig Martin, Bradley Ralani and Thabo Nodada.
“We dealt with the situation very well in terms of managing the transitions, and breaking the press a little bit,” he told SuperSport TV after the match.
Mngqithi’s issues were that his side were not more clinical, that they didn’t kill off the match earlier, and that they were not always purposeful enough in their own transitions.
“I’m very unhappy - the game was a little bit scrappy,” he said. “We allowed them moments when they could easily have come back, when we could have really buried the game earlier on.
“We are still not taking care of the ball as much as we should. Losing possession too cheaply at times, we get excited after good pressing moments but when we regain possession we are not playing forward with intent to cause harm to the opponents,” he later added.
The coach accepts, though, that it’s still early in the season and did find some other positives from Wednesday’s match.
“Its work in progress, Once again one must commend the work that is done by the coaches we work with [Rhulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela]," Mngqithi enthused.
“The set-piece we scored with Lakay they worked on and it really encouraging to see that things we working on in training are coming off.
“And to work with people with so much experience and knowledge and detail. And also the medical team to get players back on time.”
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