The South African tactician singles out two Msimbazi players for praise after his side suffered defeat in their first-round clash
Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has singled out two Simba SC players he believes contributed more to the team’s 1-0 win against his side in the Caf Champions League.
The Msimbazi giants became the first African team to beat Mosimane since he left Mamelodi Sundowns for the Egyptian outfit after a 31st-minute goal from Luis Miquissone helped them win the group contest at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium last Tuesday.
The South African tactician has picked out goalscorer Miquissone and Kenya defender Joash Onyango as the two players, who stood out during the first round meeting and also admitted Simba were better than his side on the day.
“Simba managed to play hard and defend themselves well for the entire 90 minutes,” Mosimane said as quoted by Sokalabongo. “They were careful to save all the dangerous balls that came in their goal, dangerous players were number 11 [Luis] and 16 [Onyango].”
The 28-year-old Onyango joined Wekundu wa Msimbazi from Gor Mahia at the beginning of the season and has since been one of the key players at the club in both the league and Champions League campaign.
According to the statistics provided after the game, Onyango delivered 88 percent of accurate passes during the match against Al Ahly, managed to win 81 percent of challenges, won 90 percent of the ground battles, and managed to win 100 percent tackles.
In an exclusive interview with Goal on Friday, Kenya midfielder Francis Kahata, who also turns out for Simba, conceded Onyango has kept on growing as a player because he has no time for casual mistakes and puts up a consistent shift for the giants.
“I know Onyango is someone who is always in serious business; he makes no casual mistakes at the back and he has been like that from his time at Gor Mahia,” the 29-year-old Harambee Star told Goal on Friday.
“I am happy that he is developing with each game. He has come here in Tanzania, broke into the first eleven, and made the position his by putting solid performances at the back.
“If you look at the individual performance, Onyango has been really helpful.”
Simba are now leading the group with a maximum of six points while Al Ahly are second on three points, the same as AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who beat Al Merrikh of Sudan 4-1 on Tuesday.