Mkhulise and Maema still hurt over City defeat

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Sphelele Mkhulise admits that the disappointment of losing their final game of the season against Cape Town City still hurts, as they gear up to face Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup final.

The two DStv Premiership giants will slug it out at the Mbombela Stadium for the right to be crowned champions of the season-ending competition. The Brazilians come into the game on the back of 1-0 loss to City last Saturday, who denied them the chance to finish the domestic league season unbeaten.

“Regarding the mood, after the game we were not right because as Mamelodi Sundowns we always want to dominate results and dominate the ball,” Mkhulise said.

“Even though we had won the league, it was important to get the three points against Cape Town City because we were playing at home in front of our fans so to lose to Cape Town City didn’t sit well with us. Even now … we’re not right and we haven’t recovered from losing to Cape Town City.”

‘We will get over it’

His teammate Neo Maema also could not hide the pain of the failed attempt at invincibility, having gone 29 games unbeaten before they stumbled at the last hurdle.

“The disappointment is there because we haven’t reached the goal of invincibility. It is there, it struck us that in 29 games we fought so hard and then we did not make it in the final game. But we have a game on Saturday so we have to win and sooner or later we will get over it,” Maema concluded.