‘Greedy’ Mamelodi Sundowns coach wants more goals after romp

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi admitted on Sunday to being “greedy” after the South African Premiership leaders cruised to a 4-0 victory at bottom club Marumo Gallants.  

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“I am greedy when it comes to goals and we are a few behind our target for this stage of the league campaign,” he said following a matchday 10 romp in northern city Polokwane.

Sundowns have scored 17 in nine matches with eight coming from Namibia star Peter Shalulile, who bagged a brace against Marumo behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We still have one more match in this cycle (a postponed fixture against Baroka), which is another opportunity to score goals,” added Mngqithi.

An 11-pass move set up Themba Zwane to score the only goal of the first half and Mpho Mvelase wasted a great chance to level on the hour before the floodgates opened.

As Marumo pushed more players forward in pursuit of an equaliser, Sundowns exploited additional space and Shalulile scored either side of a goal by Slovak Pavel Safranko.

Shalulile scored consistently last season to be voted the South African Player of the Season and his double against Gallants took him to the top of the Premiership charts this term with eight.

While Manqoba wants more goals, the 50-year-old must be happy with a defence that has not conceded in the league this season. 

The absence through injury of star Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango for several matches has offered his understudies, Zambian Kennedy Mweene and Reyaad Pieterse, opportunities to prove their worth.

Sundowns are five points ahead of second-place Stellenbosch, with a game in hand, as they seek a record-extending fifth straight Premiership title.

The other major ambition of the Pretoria outfit is to win the CAF Champions League a second time having defeated Egyptian club Zamalek 3-1 on aggregate in the 2016 final.

They reached the group stage last month by eliminating Maniema Union of the Democratic Republic of Congo and will discover their three mini-league opponents when the draw is made on December 23.

AmaZulu, a Durban club who exceeded expectations by finishing runners-up to Sundowns last season, were indebted to Zambian Augustine Mulenga for a 2-0 home win over Cape Town City.

After firing blanks in their last two league matches, AmaZulu coach and former South Africa star Benni McCarthy saw substitute Mulenga net twice before half-time.