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Mngqithi on Sundowns' thumping of Chiefs: 'we could easily have scored four or five and possibly even six'

Manqoba Mngqithi is a hard man to please.
Manqoba Mngqithi is a hard man to please.
Image: ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Mamelodi Sundowns may have handed Kaizer Chiefs an embarrassing 3-0 thumping on the opening day of the season at the weekend but co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi is not satisfied.

Sundowns got the defence of their league title to an impressive start at FNB Stadium on Saturday but Mngqithi‚ who was appointed as co-coach with Rulani Mokwena after former head coach Pitso Mosimane's departure to Egyptian powerhouses Al Ahly last month‚ wants more from his charges.

Mngqithi said there were good things that were achieved by the players against Chiefs but was concerned by the number of chances they wasted in front of goals.

“One must just comment on the good work the players have done‚" he said.

"They put up a very good shift but I am a little bit unhappy with the number of chances that we created and did not convert.

"I believe that we could easily have scored four or five and possibly even six if you check the chances that we created.

“We could have scored a lot more goals in the first half because we got some opportunities that we could have utilised but unfortunately we did not.

"In the second half‚ it got a little bit scrappy‚ not as organized‚ more especially offensively‚ because we did not get our passing patterns the right way but in patches we still managed to create some good moments.”

Mngqithi said they still have a lot of work to do before Sundowns are firing on all cylinders. He was happy that goalkeeper Denis Onyango managed to keep a clean sheet.

“One is also happy that we kept a clean sheet even though at some moments I felt that we just wanted to give it away. I think this is a performance that we can built on‚ but we still have a very long way to go because the team is not at a level one would like it to be.

“There is still a lot of work to be done‚ more especially in keeping possession and taking care of the ball. One must also comment on the good work done by coach Rulani Mokowena and [senior coach] Steve Komphela on the set-piece we scored from because they were very busy with it [on Friday] and it paid off [on Saturday].

“One must really give credit to the good work that they have done‚ that is why it is important to have a team of people that are capable of making sure that we get the outcomes we are looking for. It was a very good delivery from Rivaldo (Coetzee) and a good finish from Peter (Shalulile).

"The first half looked very good‚ we had a lot of good playing angles‚ good passing patterns‚ but I still feel that we were not assertive enough.”