'Mamelodi Sundowns' build-ups compromised by wind against Golden Arrows' - Mokwena

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The former Orlando Pirates assistant coach pointed out that it was very important for his side not to lose against the KwaZulu-Natal outfit

Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Rhulani Mokwena bemoaned the bad weather for his side from being able to play their usual passing game against Lamontville Golden Arrows on Saturday afternoon.

The Brazilians grabbed an important away goal through Pavol Safranko in their MTN8 semi-final first-leg encounter against Abafana Bes'thende which ended in a 1-1 draw at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban.

The rain-soaked match was played on a wet pitch and Arrows opened the scoring through Nqobeko Dlamini's sixth-minute goal as Abafana Bes'thende looked to return to winning ways having lost 3-1 to SuperSport United in a PSL game on Wednesday.

Mokwena praised the Tshwane giants for showing good resilience and character, while also lauding the team's tactical change which led to the fightback as their goalscorer Safranko was a substitute.

"Difficult game against a very good side," Mokwena told SuperSport TV.

"A wounded side that lost against SuperSport. Good resilience from our team. Very good fight. Very good character and very important not to lose because it allows us to keep going and prepare for the second leg.

"We changed things a little bit. We went with [Thabiso] Kutumela and Pavol. We tried to change the structure slightly. It allowed us to keep them."

Sundowns resorted to playing crosses after finding it difficult to penetrate the Arrows defence with their passing game and Safranko scored after the hosts had failed to deal with Thapelo Morena's low cross.

Mokwena insisted that he was not using the bad weather as an excuse and stressed the importance of their away goal with Sundowns scheduled to host Arrows in the second-leg match in Pretoria on September 28.

"Also, the conditions didn't help much. We don't want to make excuses. We are a passing team. When you play against the wind, especially in the first half, your build-ups are a little bit compromised," he added.

"We got the equaliser and the away goal, which is very important and extremely crucial."

Sundowns are hoping to go all the way and win the MTN8 title for the first time since 2007 when the competition was still known as the SAA Supa 8 Cup.

2021-08-28 23:00:02

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