Durban — Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has conceded that his side are a bit too over-reliant on Peter Shalulile for goals and added that this is an area that they may need to reinforce during the off-season transfer window.
Downs played out to a 1-1 draw against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday and could have lost the game had Reyaad Pieterse not saved a late second half penalty by Keagan Dolly.
“As much as we have scored important goals, we have not scored enough in terms of the chances we have created. We are too reliant on Peter Shalulile in as much as there were many other players who chipped in with a few goals. I do believe we might look to reinforce that area. There are other areas which are probably not as primary as those areas. Those three positions really need reinforcement,” said Mnqgithi.
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The 28-year-old Shalulile has scored 22 league goals to date and is all but certain to win the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot award this season. The Namibian also has a chance to break the all-time goals record in a Premiership season that is currently held by Collins Mbesuma who blasted in 25 goals during the 2004/05 season.
After Shalulile, the next highest scorers for Downs are Teboho Mokoena, Themba Zwane and Pavol Safranko who have each notched five goals apiece. This does suggest that Masandawana are a bit over-reliant on Shalulile. In addition to this, Sundowns must also start bracing themselves for interest in Shalulile internationally as his performances are bound to have raised eyebrows abroad. In the wake of his heroics for Chiefs, Mbesuma earned a move to then English Premiership club Portsmouth in 2005.
The hero for Sundowns on Sunday was Pieterse. With Kennedy Mweene and Denis Onyango nearing the end of their careers, the 30-year-old shot-stopper has made a good case to be installed as the club’s first-choice keeper in the near future.
“People know that Reyaad is very good on penalties. We were very confident as a team that he was going to save that penalty. I feel we deserved to get one as well so we can see whether Bruce Bvuma was going to be able to save that one,” said Mngqithi.
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