Mamelodi Sundowns will be looking to do a double over SuperSport United in the Tshwane Derby on Friday when they travel crosstown to Lucas Moripe Stadium. The Brazilians delivered a dominant performance on Sunday when they locked horns with Matsatsantsa in the MTN8 quarter finals, Downs hold the upper hand when it comes to recent results between themselves and United, Co-Coach Manqoba Mngqithi regards the encounter as highly competitive as they prepare to face Tshwane rivals in their next league match.
“Playing SuperSport is always a tough match regardless of the competition and regardless of the frequency to how many times you have played them and what was the outcome of the previous results, so we are expecting another tough encounter. It took us 80 minutes in the previous match to break the match down, and again we are going for the same encounter, which is always fierce, very aggressive [with] a lot of aerial battles and a very good team to play against.”
“[They are] coached by one of the best coaches in the country so we are expecting a very competitive match which we have to be prepared for and never take things for granted. We all know it was not the easiest match that we played this weekend so we know what to expect.”
Masandawana wrapped up the win in the Tshwane derby with just 20 minutes to go, new signings Marcelo Allende and Abubeker Nasir earned the home team a spot in the semi-finals of the MTN8 coming fresh from the bench. The next competitive game between Bafana Ba Style and Matsatsantsa is scheduled to take place this coming Friday at the home of United, Coach Manqoba indicated that one of the players that scored in the previous encounter may start the game in this clash.
“The possibility of one of them starting is there, but we’ll have to see what happens in our matchday minus one training session. I wouldn’t really think that it would be a temptation to start them, I think it would probably be based on the processes that we are filling inside, such as the number of minutes that we think they can play.”
“If we feel that they are ready to give us the 90 minutes we might decide to start them because it was never an issue of whether they can start the match or not, it was mainly an issue of how far they can go in a match and they’ve played two matches as substitutes.”
The Tshwane giants have been showing their superiority in recent years in the Premier Soccer League, and they are perceived to have a stronghold in all their competitions. Downs have collected three wins in their first five matches of league competition, Coach Manqoba demonstrated their approach to competitions by saying, “With our periodization it’s always important to know that we don’t want to start on a high, we use the first five matches as part of the last cycle of our preparation period.”
“If you get the outcomes that are very good in those first five matches it’s good for you, but you know that you’re still in the preparatory phase. Knowing the number of matches that we are expected to play within the next two months now it is also very important to periodize our work properly to make sure that we don’t burn out quickly and that we are ready to play until the last match, and that requires a lot when you consider that we are playing two to three matches every week. It’s gonna be even more difficult for many teams to cope with that and maybe for us it will be slightly better considering that we’ve been in this for many seasons now with the Champions League and all these other matches that we play per season.”
Mamelodi Sundowns meet with SuperSport United in the DStv Premiership on Friday at Lucas Moripe Stadium. Kick off is at 19H30 on SuperSport TV.
If Sirino is not available Abubaker Nasir must be on the starting line up.Its now that the boy must be thrown to the deep end and he has nothing to prove & his capabilities cannot be hidden.
Both Marcelo and Nasri may start and Shalulile can start on the bench. We have many options that need to be tried
I wonder where those supporters who’ve been calling for Morena and Lakay are? I also don’t see the role of Jali in this game. He’s losing all the balls and he could’ve prevented both goals as he was closest to the action. SSU really deserves to win this game, as they should’ve as well with the MTN 8
Member Jali played well in this game. He is my Sundowns man of the match. The problem is with our coaches. They keep on playing Maema in the middle and the boy offer us nothing.He has the talent but he does not have the football brain. Does not know when to pass and when to shoot. Number 2. they must stop this thing of playing Shalulile on the left. Shalulile is not good on his feet. We want him inside the box to score goals
Jali was the main culprit in this loss! He was not providing any defensive to the center halfs! He kept playing the balls central and giving away possessions allowing the opponent to counter attack! We blowing hot and cold! Upfront I think there was no combination between Nasir and Shalulile! We need to do better next time!!!
As for Morena I believe he is better when is played upfront with someone covering for him in the right back position! Is good in attack because of his pace! Defensively he was found wanting!!