Mngqithi: There were a lot of positives
Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi believes there were a lot of positive from their 1-0 defeat to Bloemfontein Celtic in the MTN8 quarter-final on Sunday.
The Brazilians failed to secure their place in the semi-finals of the competition after Victor Letsoalo fired Celtic into the next round.
Mngqithi was pleased with his sides performance but rues their missed chances.
‘When you drag it a little bit longer without scoring a goal, you dominate and create opportunities but you don't get clear chances even if you get those chances, you don't take them, normally in football you get punished,’ Mngqithi said on SuperSport TV after the match.
‘It was just an unfortunate foul by Nyiko [Mobbie] and out of nothing, a goal was created [by Celtic] but I think in this game there were a lot of positives. I believe we're beginning to play the way I want the team to play.
‘The coaches have worked very hard in trying to make sure that we have the right balance and the shape in midfield and to be honest we looked very good but when we got punished, what can you say, you can't say you played well when you didn't win the match.’
He went on to say: ‘We patiently wanted to keep the ball in midfield, create good moments, wait for the right moment to look for possibilities behind the defence, a lot of breaking the lines, which did not happen much from out 8s.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
‘In the second-half we started to see those moments a lot but better positional sense because when you're playing the shape we're playing, you expect to keep possession and not lose possession and don't expose yourself to counter-attacks and I think that's where we survived.
‘Because there were scary moments when they won the ball, out of nothing...when we're casual on the ball, it creates moments for them but otherwise I believe we played very well, it was just unfortunate that we could not take the game.
‘The chances we created, unfortunately with the offside of [Peter] Shalulile, we created some moments which could give us some goal, Gason [Sirino] had [a chance], 'Mshishi' [Themba Zwane] also had a chance on the far side, we had some very interesting moments, maybe one more touch could have resulted in a goal in some instances.
‘But at times we were nervy, anxious, understandably when you're playing the first match of the season but I was impressed, there were a lot of positives in my opinion,’ he concluded.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.
England confirm first two representatives on the plane for Euro 2024 in Germany: Refereeing duo chosen for the tournament
The three England players who could benefit from Euro 2024 squads being extended from 23 to 26
Liverpool to make Adidas switch from 2025 - but new deal 'falls well short' of Manchester United's record contract