Mamelodi Sundowns bask in the euphoria of winning the first leg of the African Football League semi-finals after beating Egyptian side, Al Ahly, in what was dubbed the African Derby on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld.
Masandawana made a statement at home through Thapelo Maseko’s long-range goal which stunned the away team’s goalkeeper, Mohammed El Shenawy.
When reviewing what was a thrilling encounter, Coach Rulani applauded his side for the important goal that sees them heading to the second leg with an upper hand.
“A big congratulations to the team. I think firstly, the performance was very good. We played well, we controlled the game, and we gave zero chances in both the first and second half. We created a lot of chances, but we take the 1-0 victory. A big congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns, the players in particular.
With the one goal advantage they already have, Bafana Ba Style will have to search for more goals on the 2nd leg and find the back of the net so they may see themselves in the final. Coach Rulani believes that Maseko’s goal is not the last goal to be scored by his side in these semi-finals.
“We have got a goal in Cairo, we know that and Al Ahly knows that too, and it stresses them a lot. The message that they have got is they know Sundowns can score in Cairo. You could see the frustration on the players when they walked off the pitch, because I would presume that the first thing they will have in mind is that Sundowns must not score an away goal. Let’s see what happens, it’s only half time. I think this will be an interesting game, but as I said, I think they also know that Sundowns has a goal in Cairo, if not two,” he confidently stated.
Coach Rulani further expressed his gratitude to the 12th man, the Yellow Nation, who came out in numbers to support Bafana Ba Style and remained until the very last minute, even though the weather conditions were tricky.
“I also want to say a massive congratulations to the Yellow Nation, our supporters, because they turned up in numbers, they pitched and played the game with us. Even Teboho Mokoena’s cry for help was received with warmth and a very humble reaction. There was a fantastic performance from the Yellow Nation in the stands, on both sides of the stadium which was amazing. So big congratulations to them and for their performance,” he concluded.
What I’ve noticed with our African var its not performing like the European one,African referees are still afraid of North Africans yesterday on our game one player wanted or nearly headbutt the referee but those sitting on var turned the blind eye.
Pls coach even Mvala is elihible to play just bench him we don’t want more red cards continue with the combination of Coetzee and Kekana and Onyango mustn’t come and learn to substitute early especially upfront Zwane cost us big time nowadays and I heard you praised that boring slow build ups by our goalkeeper which means we must live with it even though its a cause for concern,Kby forever
Good game. But very tactical game… Al ahly behaved like a small team yesterday… And were hoping to sneak one in.. Tau is still biggest threat… Malool too is good… But he didn’t venture forward much… But he will in Cairo… So the coach will have to look into that.. Happy with performance yesterday… We needed one more… That worries me a bit. Mudau should have scored… He looked a bit casual to me there. Nonetheless, Mudau is still the best player in the psl…But like the coach said… We have at least one goal in Cairo. Good luck to the team.
Yes Dalom we r encountering the same scenario ahead of a crucial game an opposition coach will complain about bad refereeing but not spot wrong things when it benefits his team. Like Ncikazi did in the MTN8 ,now Koller wants an unfair advantage by crying victim of officiating,while the middle men were excellent on the day…North Africans think they r better than us…I so wish we can get a better official and I like the spirit of Rhulani of not parking the bus…
It’s gonna be very difficult for us in Cairo. Already the Pharoahs are complaining of everything including the referees, the which one can tell is intended at intimidating the referees into making decisions that’ll favour them in Cairo. Mudau and AB need to be very careful as they’re the other players who don’t play cleanly after Mvala. These complaints by the Pharoahs are really irritating and I’m happy our coach addressed them in the press conference in Cairo. Al Ahly always want to be treated special