Durban — Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rhulani Mokwena has insisted that his side must develop a “zero tolerance” approach to mistakes following his team’s 2-0 win over Sekhukhune United on Saturday afternoon.
The past week was a nightmare for Masandawana goalkeeper Denis Onyango. The Ugandan’s mistakes led to the reigning league champions drawing 2-2 with SuperSport United and he followed that up by receiving a red card in the game against Sekhukhune.
“These things happen in football. Denis will remain Denis. It’s important for him to check and analyse. I always say to people that there’s five mistakes or six mistakes before an actual mistake that we see and at times we only focus on the final product,” said Mokwena.
The situation that led to Onyango’s red-card was a poor back pass from team-mate Mosa Lebusa and this was something that Mokwena also alluded to.
“There was a build-up of elements and even in that moment, there was a back pass. We tried to get the back pass of Grant Kekana and we got to the back pass of Mosa (Lebusa). Before Kekana passed to Mosa, Mosa was trying to pass to a striker. He then had to react a bit because he was under pressure. This is the price that we pay for being a side that plays from the back and a team that builds situations from the back. We have to cut out the mistakes because we have to get to the level where we are competing for the CAF Champions League,” said Mokwena.
Sundowns second goal in the game was a Themba Zwane penalty. Downs were awarded the spot-kick after Nyiko Mobbie was judged to have handed the ball in his penalty area. However, replays showed that the ball actually struck the stomach of Mobbie and not his hand.
“From where I was sitting it looked like a penalty but I stand to be corrected because I haven’t seen it yet,” said Mokwena.
Meanwhile, the result meant that Downs ended a run of two games without a win after they played out to draws against Cape Town City and SuperSport United prior to the game.
Sundowns have now won nine out of their 12 league games to date and they are the only side that has yet to lose a single league game this season.
Masandawana’s next league assignment will be an away trip to Stellenbosch FC at the Danie Craven Stadium next Saturday afternoon.
IOL Sport