JOHANNESBURG – SuperSport United may have had ups and downs in their league campaign so far, but coach Keitano Tembo is not losing his sleep over his troops’ inability to be consistent.
Having started their Premiership term by a loss to neighbours Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport dusted themselves off and returned to winning ways as they trounced Orlando Pirates 3-0 at home.
That appeared as the change of fortunes, until they endured a 3-3 draw with Cape Town City at home, a fortnight ago.
Last Tuesday, SuperSport bounced back to winning ways as they defeated sworn enemies Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final second leg mid-week by 2-0.
That ensured they won the tie 3-1 on aggregate, marching on to the competition’s third successive final where they’ll meet Highlands Park at Orlando Stadium on October 5.
📸 @polokwane_city vs @SuperSportFC #AbsaPrem #ForeverUnited🔥 pic.twitter.com/LtZVGKtgLP
— SuperSport United FC (@SuperSportFC) September 22, 2019
However, on Saturday, they were quickly brought back by to earth by an invigorated Polokwane City side that hammered them 3-1 at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.
“It’s been tough seven days for us,” Tembo said. “It’s not an excuse, but it’s normal. This is a tough league, and I am proud of the guys.”
Although he didn’t want to make excuses for their loss against City, Tembo was gutted with the poor officiating that saw Onismor Bhasera shown a straight card for a tackle on Sibusiso Hlubi.
However, having seen the replay, Tembo believes Hlubi should have been punished.
“If you watched the repeat on video, it should have gone the other way. He (Bhasera) was the one that was kicked,” he said. “We’ll have to take him to the doctor because he was the one that was injured, and the other player was not.
We just want to play football, and we don’t complain about match officials. But it’s important that they are consistent, especially with 50/50 chances.”
🚨 UPCOMING FIXTURE 🚨
🆚️ AmaZulu
📆 Saturday, 28 September 2019
🏟 Lucas Moripe Stadium
— SuperSport United FC (@SuperSportFC) September 23, 2019
Despite the somewhat suspect officiating, there was a lot that wasn’t going well for SuperSport. In the 35th minute, Tembo was forced into a tactical change, substituting Sipho Mbule for Jamie Webber.
However, the latter didn’t stick around long enough, as he had to make way for Bradley Grobler mid-way through the second half. However, when quizzed about surprise change of Mbule, Tembo said the youngster didn’t have enough mileage in his legs due to the congested fixtures.