Sundowns in pain as they visit tricky Chippa

Mamelodi Sundowns find themselves in a rather unusual position in the DStv Premiership as they seek to return to winning ways when they take on Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay tonight (7:30pm). 

The defending champions are coming off a shock 2-1 defeat to SuperSport United last Friday. This season has seen Sundowns struggle to form a run of good consistent results. In their six games, they have won three matches, drawn one and lost two. 

Today’s game in Gqeberha will present the opportunity for Downs to get their campaign back on track. Co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi wants to use the game to rebound from the heart-crushing loss to rivals  Matsatsantsa a Pitori. 

“We still feel the pain, we are not a team that’s accustomed to losing matches like those but we have to move on and focus on the next assignment,” Mngqithi said.

“We’ve disappointed the yellow nation, they are still behind us. They make you feel good, they show that they are here to support the team, not just criticize. Sometimes you lose matches that you are supposed to win. They are with us in good times and bad times,” he said. 

Mngqithi took time to shower praises on Chippa United coach Daine Klate. The Sundowns mentor knows all about sitting in the chair of the coach in the Eastern Cape-based outfit, having been sacked after a short period by the trigger-happy Chippa Mpengesi before he joined Sundowns in 2014. 

“It’s encouraging what Daine has done with that team, they have scored some critical goals on set pieces. Daine has structured the team correctly, they are very offensive,” said Mngqithi of Klate.

“They don’t just play on the break. In their game against Golden Arrows, they had a tremendous second half, which shows the quality of the coaching. We are expecting a very tough match, a match that we know we are expected to win as Sundowns,” he said.