'Matlaba almost broke Vilakazi's leg' - Mamelodi Sundowns' Mngqithi furious with referee

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The 2009 MTN8 title winning coach was unhappy to see Masandawana drop points against the Beautiful Birds

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi criticised the officiating in their draw with Swallows FC on Saturday evening.

The draw saw Masandawana maintain their unbeaten away record in the PSL this season.

It was Sundowns' maiden match after they clinched this season's PSL title with a 3-1 win over SuperSport United on Wednesday and Mngqithi described their clash with Swallows as tactical.

"It's one of those matches. Against Swallows, a highly tactical match," Mngqithi told SuperSport TV.

"In the first half I felt we gave them a little bit more time and space to come at us but we improved towards the end of the first half and second half we started to put our foot forward, forcing the goalkeeper to play a lot of long balls."

The former Lamontville Golden Arrows coach was not happy with referee Thando Ndzandzeka's performance and he felt that they should have had three penalties.

"The truth of the matter is I don't think the officiating was at its best today. A few bad tackles, I saw three penalties to be honest. I saw a penalty on [Peter] Shalulile's tackle in the box, [Sibusiso] Vilakazi's tackle in the box," he said.

"And I saw a penalty at the end of the match. I was not too happy with the officiating. Legs could have been broken. [Thabo] Matlaba almost broke Vila's leg.

"[Aubrey] Modiba, same thing, Mothobi [Mvala], Cheeseboy [Lebohang Mokoena]. The officials are here to protect the players and make sure the match is running properly," he explained.

"And when they don't do that the game becomes scrappy and people lose their jobs. They get injured badly so it's very important the referees protect the players."

Mngqithi praised Swallows, who finished the match strongly with Kagiso Malinga hitting the crossbar and goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse also denied Fawaaz Basadien and Given Thibedi.

"We end up having scrappy games as a result of losing players. All these fouls you would expect some serious sanctions. That is football," he continued.

"We are unhappy we did not win the match but credit to the opponents because they also played very well on the day."

Sundowns will take on Bloemfontein Celtic on Wednesday, before wrapping a successful league campaign with a clash against Cape Town City on June 5.

2021-05-29 23:00:04

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