“I just keep demanding more but I demand more from myself, first I must demand more from myself and then I must set an example. When I give more, it means everybody else has no excuse not to give more and that’s what they are doing,”
These were the words of Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena following their 2-0 victory against Royal AM at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Tuesday evening. The win saw Masandawana extend their unbeaten league run to 27 matches.
They took a giant step towards breaking the long-standing record of finishing the league with the most points which is currently set at 71 and was set by Pitso Mosimane in the 2015/2016 season with three more matches to play.
Mokwena gave words of gratitude to the team following a hectic schedule which saw them travelling all over the continent and playing a game at least every third day. He cited that a lot of hard work is being done by the team behind the scene and that it is good to see it paying off and everyone happy.
“Congratulations to the club, everybody, the management, the supporters, it’s great to see them happy, congratulations to the technical team, a lot of hard work behind the scenes and congratulations to this group of players, another amazing performance. A lot of effort, intensity and I am very happy with their performance today.”
Goals by Peter Shalulile and Lesiba Nku secured the victory for the Brazilians which might have helped silence some of the criticism they’ve been facing from fans. Mokwena alluded to his previous comments where he pleaded with the public to continue being patient with Nku adding that he must be given more time as it’s not easy to integrate into the club’s set up.
“Lesiba doesn’t need confidence at the moment, he needs time. He’s like all of them Esquival, Lorch, all of them they need time and I spoke about Lesiba because I could see the amount of criticism which was really undue that he was getting but I still advocate that give him time. The best is yet to come. I can say the same about a lot of other players,”
The Pretoria side is set to face second-spot Stellenbosch FC in a grudge match after knocking them out of the Nedbank Cup in the semi-final. The match will take place on Saturday at the Green Point Stadium.
Written by Siphesihle Soni