Mamelodi Sundowns began their Nedbank Cup defence with a hard-fought victory after a nail-biting one hundred and twenty minutes against Stellenbosch FC. Masandawana continued their dominance over the Cape Winelands-based side, and are yet to lose a game against them. The game needed a late winner from Peter Shalulile to secure progression to the last sixteen of the cup.
“We made a mess of a game that we knew that we will be on the edge as we were playing a side that is good on the counter-attack. We did not counter-press in the first ten minutes and that allowed Dupreez to put pressure on us. It was a tough game, we always knew that when we play against Stellenbosch we are playing a team that is very astute when it comes to their defence and their counter-attack is very potent”, said Coach Manqoba Mngqithi.
Stellenbosch were the first to strike in the game as Ashley Du Preez gave the lead to the visiting side in the twelfth minute.
“It is always dangerous when you are in the opposition’s half and you have the other side open against Skelem and Du Preez. The moment they did not have Du Preez it worked out a bit better even though that boy Adams was a very big problem behind our midfield”.
A goal by Gaston Sirino and a brace for Peter Shalulile proved to be enough to seal the win and ensure progression to the next round.
Coach Manqoba Mngqithi had plenty of praise for the Namibian striker who scored another late goal for the side: “You can never falter his level of professionalism or his commitment, he is an epitome what you would want and you would want to have like five Peters in your team. Apart from his scoring, I appreciate the fact that he is not selfish and assists his teammates, like in the last game he gave an assist to Lebo and Sirino. He takes some chances, he is not a refined striker as he makes some elementary technical mistake but you can live with those mistakes because he gives you his heart”.
The game saw Ricardo Goss make his Mamelodi Sundowns debut after joining the club at the start of the season: “It was important to have Goss playing, he is a very important player for the national team. For him not to get a chance to play is not good, we always wanted to give him an opportunity but unfortunately, at times he would be out when we wanted to use him. We gave him a chance and I think he did well. It is important that our keepers get an opportunity early in the season so that when the going gets tough they can be able to assist us”.
What a game it was yesterday.But Stellenbosch was only there for the penalty shootout,from the word go.I mean their first goal was just a free gift from us.The next thing they parked the train,the bus &everything available to be parked.I mean really the boys played their lungs out.This was one of the games yesterday that I was not going to have a problem even if we lost the game.The game was appetizing&we had somehow around 80%of ball possession.With that kind of determination I can tell u that we will win the league with no defeat.Step by step,bit by bit we will defend our league successfully.Go boys go
Good game. We played the Sundowns way… Your analysis of the game was spot… We were a little bit slow… Of course when you play with Coetzee that will happen. I like your analysis of Peter… He has obvious rough edges but… It’s forgivable. That man is a soldier just like his father. The comment by Mfana above could hold true. We might go unbeaten in the league the whole season.