PRETORIA — Following his side’s 2-2 draw with Maritzburg United on Friday night, Mamelodi Sundowns boss Pitso Mosimane says he is disappointed his team did not take advantage of playing on home soil at Loftus Versfeld.
Khama Billiat salvaged a point for the Pretoria side by stealing a stoppage-time equaliser as Sundowns were held by United, who came from a goal down before taking the lead.
“We should have won this game,” Mosimane said after Sundowns’ last game of the year.
“We scored two goals at home, we normally should win with two goals.
“When you play at home, you really have to take maximum points, but the reality is the game didn’t say that, and we have to accept that Maritzburg fought.”
Mosimane’s outfit missed out on an opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the Premiership, after Kaizer Chiefs replaced the Brazilians at the summit, courtesy of a midweek victory over Golden Arrows.
Instead, Sundowns could fall five points behind their Soweto counterparts, who travel to AmaZulu on Sunday in their last effort for the year.
“We’ve been missing a lot of chances, and we know that the strongest competitor next to us is Chiefs and they have won five in a row,” Mosimane said.
“But we’re lucky because we collected enough points earlier and we scored enough goals earlier, we’re still there, we’re not far.”
The former Bafana Bafana mentor admitted that United put up a spirited display, but believed a missed penalty by his striker Katlego Mashego in the 33rd minute ultimately cost Sundowns the game.
“It was a difficult game . . . as I predicted. Maritzburg fought hard, they tried their best, they sat back and they deserve a point . . . we could have taken it.
“But we missed a penalty as well, I think that’s where it was (the difference in winning and drawing).
“We didn’t lose the match. We conceded a soft second goal and that’s a punch that takes everything out of your system.”
Mosimane pointed out after the game that Sundowns were second from bottom at the same point last season, when he had just taken over from Johan Neeskens and was in the process of getting the Chloorkop outfit back on track after they were facing relegation.
“There is a big improvement since last season. We have set the standard high, we’ve raised the bar and we need to do what we have to do as Sundowns.
“But if you compare, it’s chalk and cheese. I’m happy where we are, it’s not bad, with 17 games to go, you really can’t be panicking.” — Sport24