Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi jokingly said that Golden Arrows will help them stop their other DStv Premiership title rivals this season during his post-match interview.
Masandawana laboured so hard for their 1-0 win over the Durban-based outfit, with Gaston Sirino getting the only goal on Wednesday afternoon.
“We’ve always known it’s not going to be an easy one, we’re playing against a team that has not played in a very long time,” Mngqithi told SuperSport after the game.
“And after our trip in DRC we knew we’re coming up against a team that is fresher, maybe with the better conditions of the pitch we could’ve better.
“Because now it became difficult for us to keep the ball more, to make it difficult for them to show their freshness, because the ball was bubbling all over, too many transitions Golden Arrows becomes very dangerous.
“But that is what we expected to be honest, but credit should be given to our boys, I think they worked very hard. There were some scary moments which I believe on the day we were a little bit lucky in some instances.
“But credit must also be given to the boys, I think first-half we had a very good shout for a penalty, which we did not get and for the penalty that they got I’m not too sure but referees are also human beings, they can make mistakes,” he went on.
“And at this stage I’m talking I have not even seen the footage, maybe it was a proper penalty but the truth of the matter is that we worked very hard. We wanted the three points, we knew it was not going to be easy.
The Sundowns co-coach was also complimentary about Arrows’ performance on the day.
“And we were not as fresh for a team that only arrived on Monday from Congo, the boys I think worked very hard. [Khuliso] Mudau was outstanding; I was not surprised he became Man of the Match.
“Andile [Jali] also did well, ‘Hash’ [Haashim Domingo] also did very well, we had a lot of good performance on the day and one appreciates the three points against this team and I’m sure they are going to help us to stop all other guys who are coming.
“They can’t perform like this against us only, so I hope they perform against all other teams the way they performed because they were on fire today,” he added.