Mngqithi explains how 'scary' Marumo Gallants troubled Mamelodi Sundowns

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The experienced mentor also praised his charges following their convincing victory over Bahlabane Ba Ntwa

Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi insisted that their emphatic win over Marumo Gallants was not as easy as people would think.

Masandawana produced a dominant performance in their 4-0 victory over Bahlabane Ba Ntwa in a one-sided PSL encounter that was played at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday night.

Mngqithi was pleased by how his charges applied themselves against Gallants as they remained the only team that is yet to concede in the league this season.

"To be honest, there's a lot of positives. Another clean sheet. Very important for us. Four goals. A very good outcome," Mngqithi told SuperSport TV.

"We're a bit greedy because we've still got a deficit of probably one or two more goals.

"But we still have one more game in this cycle because the last cycle we scored is less than what we wanted to score. But the number of clean sheets have already been achieved in this cycle."

The win saw Masandawana open a five-point lead at the top of the league standings and Mngqithi praised his charges' attitude.

"So the players are really working very hard. The spirit is looking good in the group. Everyone is putting a shoulder in what we are trying to do," he continued.

"A very good attitude. One is always worried when you play these teams that everyone thinks we are going to win against easily.

"Those games require a little bit more in terms of intrinsic motivation where the willpower to try and say we want to dominate and if possible those are the games we want to score as many goals as possible."

Mngqithi, who became the first coach to win the MTN8 title twice after Downs defeated Cape Town City in the final last weekend, felt that Gallants unsettled Masandawana's defence with their high pressing.

"But the truth of the matter is it what was not as easy as people think. The moment we scored the second goal I knew we have a chance of scoring more," he added.

"The scary part was their high press. It destabilised us a bit and forced us into playing many long balls and immediately we managed to find a double wide with Mosa [Lebusa] on the left.

"It created a few more problems for them on our left channel but truth be told the second half they put up a better fight."

2021-11-07 23:00:01

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