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Mngqithi: Dominance across the board underpins Mamelodi Sundowns success
The Brazilians head coach has explained why he believes the Pretoria heavyweights have added a fourth consecutive PSL crown
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi believes that his side’s dominance across the board has underpinned their latest PSL title success.
The Brazilians clinched the South African title on Wednesday evening as they defeated rivals SuperSport United in the Tshwane derby.
The confident performance—an encouraging riposte after Sundowns’ Caf Champions League elimination at the hands of Al-Ahly at the weekend—was enough to take the Pretoria heavyweights out of reach of the chasing pack.
For Mngqithi, it’s exactly what they deserve after a season of dominance.
“Up until this point, with three matches remaining, we’ve dominated 99 percent of our matches played except for poor possession against Cape Town City, but we still won that one 3-0,” Mngqithi told journalists [as per News24].
“This was one of our objectives, and I believe we’ve dominated the entire season while the personality of our team remains important.”
With three games to go, Sundowns are 10 points clear at the top of the table, and have lost just one match all season.
“We’ve dominated all of the statistics in ball possession, shots at goal, goals conceded and other aspects of the game over the season,” he added, “and that will remain the objective in the next three games.”
Lebohang Maboe, Aubrey Modiba and Themba Zwane scored the goals on Wednesday—during a first-half blitz—as Sundowns outclassed their rivals.
Success means they clinched a record-setting fourth consecutive title, as they consolidate their status as the most successful South African team of the PSL era.
For Mngqithi and fellow head coach Rhulani Mokoena, the title triumph represents a strong response to critics who questioned how the double act would fare following the departure of celebrated head coach Pitso Mosimane in 2020.
“The biggest focus we had with regards to the team is how we had to restructure our plan in many ways and how we built on our foundations from the previous season,” the 50-year-old continued.
“New players came in and we had to find a balance and system that would work for them.
”We believe we’ve achieved a lot in that regard.”
Next up for Sundowns, they are away at Moroka Swallows on Saturday, before travelling to Bloemfontein Celtic in midweek.
They conclude their campaign at home against Cape Town City.
