Cape Town — Mamelodi Sundowns returned to pole position in the DStv Premiership after they sneaked a 1-0 win over Marumo Gallants at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday.
The final score could have been different since Sundowns were denied two penalties that appeared to be good calls while a Gallants goal was denied at the death. The disallowed goal caused a controversial end to the match and the referee had to be escorted off the field by the security staff.
Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena stopped short of criticising the match officials out of fear of being fined.
“I never speak about the officiating, but goodness, if those two are not penalties, I don’t know,” said Mokwena afterwards.
“I would rather not talk about the penalties. I don’t want to be called to the disciplinary committee. I don’t get paid enough to also pay fines.
“It was very crucial for us to win today because we haven’t been on the league schedule while everyone else has been playing, and so not much separation has been formed between us and the other clubs.
“At Sundowns, winning is not the only objective. There are also certain performance standards that must be met to achieve victory.
“Constant attention is paid to the performance, ensuring that it is powerful and excellent. Today, especially in the first half, we produced a great deal more scoring opportunities, which gives us a great deal to work on and develop.
“We won a lot of balls close to the box and we should have been more aggressive and ruthless with better decision making around the box.
“The second half was not so good, and it doesn’t give a very good feeling. There were many factors that can be attributed to that.”
In the end, Mokwena looked relieved to have sneaked a win despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession. He praised coach Dan ‘Dance’ Malesela for keeping his team motivated right until the final whistle.
“Dan Dance’s teams are like that,” said Mokwena. “They always fight until the end. We always had the feeling that the game was not over. We needed the second and maybe the third goal.”
Gutted Gallants coach Malesela would not react to the disallowed goal but his facial expression showed that he was angry.
“I’m not gonna complain about certain other things. I leave them to God,” said Malesela.
“We must redeem ourselves against the next opponent, we really need the points. We need the points, seriously so.”
On Saturday, Sundowns are up against Orlando Pirates in the second leg of the MTN8 semi-final.
IOL Sport