Sundowns sitting in ‘right position’

Pitso Mosimane hopes to beat Wits on Saturday, but if Sundowns don’t he says it will still be okay.

Pitso Mosimane hopes to beat Wits on Saturday, but if Sundowns don’t he says it will still be okay.

Published Feb 21, 2019

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MAMELODI Sundowns will go to where they fetched the PSL title with conservative ambitions in a match that might not decide where the championship will go, but can tilt the scale in favour of the winner.

The Brazilians visit Wits at Bidvest Stadium in a top-of-the-table clash between the last two champions of South Africa. Sundowns missed out on an opportunity to overtake the Clever Boys at the summit when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Polokwane City at Loftus on Tuesday.

This was the second time that Sundowns let slip an opportunity to occupy top spot - a position that Wits have held for most of this season. But Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane doesn’t mind doing the chasing instead of leading the pack. The Pretoria giants are in the driver’s seat, two points behind the Clever Boys with two games in hand.

“We’re sitting in the right position,” Mosimane said. “We’re sitting nice there. It’s a nice position to sit on. I can’t pretend that we wouldn’t have liked to win against Polokwane. Off course we wanted to win. But it’s okay. It’s a good position. Pressure is on everybody who plays There’s no obvious (when it comes to getting results). You fight for your points.”

The Brazilians are currently in a battle to keep the point they collected from Wits in October. Sundowns fielded an ineligible player in that match and they could not only lose the point they earned, but they could also see Wits being given three points from that outing which would increase the gap that the Clever Boys lead the chasing pack by. This case and the history between these two teams will make Saturday’s encounter a tense one.

“Does it determine the championship? It’s a long way to go,” Mosimane said. “Let’s see what happens there. We hope to win, but if we don’t win it’s still okay. As long as we don’t lose. So we keep going. You’ve got to be playing proper chess, don’t be emotional.”

Sundowns could have closed the gap to Wits had Denis Onyango not scored an own goal on Tuesday. The Sundowns goalkeeper cut a dejected figure after his howler as he cried as he walked off the pitch at halftime.

“I told him that he must remember all the games he has saved us and that he must be a big man. He is bigger than that. I’ve seen mistakes. You see them every week,” Mosimane said.

While the Brazilians know how to grind out results towards the end of the season, they have been uncharacteristically inconsistent during this campaign. With the title race intensifying, with Orlando Pirates and Cape Town City wanting to join in the party, any major slip-up from now on will be suicidal.

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