Ten point lead not enough for Mosimane
“Mathematically we are not there yet. We have to keep our feet on the ground and take it one game at a time.”
|||Johannesburg - Mamelodi Sundowns may have rubbed the Premier Soccer League up the wrong way on Wednesday following their noshow at a scheduled press conference – and they are likely to be hauled over the coals for it – but it seems that’s about the only threat at the moment for the Absa Premiership runaway leaders.
Hardly 24-hours after edging closer to their record seventh championship by beating cross-town rivals SuperSport United, thanks to goals from Asavela Mbekile and talisman Khama Billiat, the Brazilians forgot to set a reminder to be at the PSL headquarters in Parktown ahead of their Nedbank Cup last 32 clash against Highlands Park, their National First Division counterparts, on Sunday in Tembisa.
They will be slapped with a hefty fine for embarrassing the league and the sponsors of a competition in which they are title holders, but money won’t be a problem seeing that they clear favourites to grab the R10-million bonanza that accompanies the championship trophy. Pitso Mosimane, the Sundowns coach, had tried to give fellow Premier League contenders some hope after the 2-0 win over SuperSport in his post-match remarks on Tuesday night.
“Mathematically we are not there yet. We have to keep our feet on the ground and take it one game at a time,” he said. “It was very important for us to pass 50 points. When it comes to 56, then the reality hits home for the players, because then you are close to 60. And whoever reaches 60 has a chance to win the league.”
The midweek result means that Sundowns’ closest rival in the championship race – second placed Bidvest Wits – are now 10 points behind, although they have a game in hand and host the Brazilians at their university grounds on May 11. By then, that encounter may very well be an exhibition match, with the Clever Boys being forced to form a guard of honour for the newly crowned league winners.
Mosimane wasn’t getting ahead of himself even after defeating Stuart Baxter, a man who was in charge of Kaizer Chiefs when the Glamour Boys clinched the title last season. “I think if you win, it creates pressure. And when somebody’s chasing you, it creates pressure for us. But we don’t have to look at anyone else,” he reasoned. “We have to drive our own vehicle. We have to look after our games. And when teams come to Lucas Moripe Stadium (Sundowns’ home ground), we have more chance to win here, even though we have a very good away record.
You have to keep calm and you can’t get excited. For us this was a massive win against SuperSport. And I think our next two (league) games against Bloemfontein Celtic and Polokwane City are key.
Those two games can give us the 58 points. And that really starts to say, ‘Well, we are 100 percent sure we can finish second’. And that gives us a chance to play in the Champions League again next year.”
Sundowns shrugged off potential fatigue against their struggling neighbours to win, convincingly at that, having been involved in an energy-sapping home fixture against Zimbabwe’s Chicken Inn in the second leg of their CAF Champions League preliminary match.
The Star