Sundowns’ Khoza happy with lead over Pirates

Mamelodi Sundowns youngster Malibongwe Khoza has praised their business-like approach following the narrow 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs in a Betway Premiership clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

The Brazilians were uncharacteristically not as aggressive as they’ve been in previous games between the two teams. At times, Sundowns were happy to defend their lead after Lucas Ribeiro put them ahead four minutes before the break.

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In the end, the defending champions edged the encounter thanks to a Ribeiro’s solitary goal to extend their lead at the top of the log to 18 points. Although Marcelo Allende walked away with the player of the match award, Khoza was also not far off after putting in a huge shift in the centre of defence.

The 20-year-old played like a seasoned professional with some stout defending with Amakhosi putting pressure in search of an equaliser. His partnership with Lucas Suarez kept the backdoor shut in front of the sold-out affair in Atteridgeville.

“We made sure that we managed the game very well because we know that some of the guys played in midweek,” Khoza told the club’s media team after the game.

“We had to manage the game and just to get the goal. Just like any other game we made sure that we secure our three points so that we can extend the gap and stay up there on top of the log.”

Sundowns moved to 54 points after 20 games, 18 points clear of second-placed Orlando Pirates who have four games in hand. The Buccaneers needed to respond in their own game that was played later in the evening, but they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Marumo Gallants.

Khoza was happy with the maximum points at home to Chiefs as Sundowns edge closer to a record-extending eighth championship in a row. Masandawana will next make the trip to KwaZulu-Natal to take on Golden Arrows on Wednesday night.

“There was no pressure, we just needed to win the game in any way so that we extended our lead,” the 20-year-old Khoza added.

“We just needed to play the game and not the occasion. We at least have days to recover and we just need to do that and go to Durban and play a proper game (against Arrows) and get a good win.”

With Bafana Bafana international Grant Kekana not in the match-day squad, Sundowns Coach Miguel Cardoso explained his decision to start the game with Khoza ahead of the experienced Mosa Lebusa.

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“We understood that we needed the freshness in the team to cope with the style of play that we could face. It was important to have freshness at the back. We decided to put three fresher players in defence so that we could cope, mostly with the long balls,” Cardoso said.