Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi was left disappointed after his side played to a second successive 0-0 draw on Tuesday, with the defending champions unable to find the back of the net against Bloemfontein Celtic.
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Mamelodi Sundowns also played to a goalless draw against SuperSport United last weekend.
The Brazilians had their chances against Bloemfontein Celtic, but were wasteful in front of goal.
They were also fortunate not to concede a goal by Siwelele’s Sera Motebang who was inexplicably ruled offside when two Sundowns defenders had clearly played him onside in one of the poorer decisions made by officials this season, according to Mzansi Football.
“This one was a little bit of a tough one because I think we got some opportunities where we could have opened the game up, it’s not going to be easy when they [Celtic] are sitting deep and not giving us space behind the defence,” Mngqithi said post-match.
“I thought the chances we got in the first-half, Kermit [Erasmus] was very unfortunate today I believe he could have easily scored a hat-trick but on the day, we must just accept that.
“But I still believe we were not at our sharpest point, not very sharp and convincing, maybe when we made the substitutions in the second-half and refreshed the team that’s where we started to look [better] with quicker combinations to try and get behind the defence.
“But all in all, I still think it was not a performance one would have expected but what can we do? We can just appreciate that we did not concede again and we have not lost a match, they had some scary moments on counter-attacks and they always trouble us on counter-attacks but I think today we dealt with those situations a little bit better.”
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Mngqithi admitted they will have to find their goal-scoring touch ahead of their next DStv Premiership fixtures against second-placed Swallows FC on Saturday, 23 January.
“It’s just not looking good when you’re not scoring in two matches in a row being a team like Mamelodi Sundowns, not taking away the fact that their goalkeepers put in some good saves.
“Jackson [Mabokgwane] did very well on Kermit in the first-half, Sipho Chaine also did very well second-half. We have to go back and work, hopefully in the big one [on Saturday] we’ll be able to get the desired results.”
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The stalemate was the Brazilians’ fifth of the season to go along with seven victories. They now sit on 26 points, a single point ahead of Swallows FC who have played one fewer match.
Swallows FC will have the opportunity of going top of the log when they host Chippa United on Wednesday, 20 January at 17:00.
In what promises to be a mouth-watering showdown, Mamelodi Sundowns will next be in action on Saturday, 23 January when they host Swallows FC in a top-of-the-table clash.
Kick-off is at 15:00.
