Sundowns’ Mngqithi defends under-fire Sales

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mnqgithi has leapt to the defence of under-fire striker Arthur Sales.

Sales opened his scoring account for the club during the 3-0 win over Sekhukhune United in a Betway Premiership encounter at Loftus Versfeld last Saturday.

Sundowns fans not happy

The Brazilian forward has come under heavy criticism from some factions of the Sundowns faithful. His displays have been largely underwhelming since arriving from Belgium at the beginning of the season.

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The 22-year-old finally got the monkey off his back when he scored Masandawana’s second goal from the penalty spot against Babina Noko. It took Sales eleven games across all competitions to break his duck and Mngqithi says there’s more to come from him.

“What we wish to see is him contributing to us winning matches … that’s more important to us than focusing merely on goals,” said Mngqithi

“To people who are looking at this thing negatively, they will say he’s only getting his first goal now but he already has two assists. It should be very positive for us that he’s moving in the right direction. Sometimes adaptation takes longer than anticipated.

Mngqithi – ‘He’s still a very young boy’

“The other thing that we forget is that he’s still a very young boy. He’s 22 years-old and development depends on how much we push him. I was impressed with how he operated from the channels and I think he can do more.”

Sundowns’ best signing of the season has no doubt been Iqraam Rayners. Rayners has hit the ground running following his big money move from Stellenbosch FC earlier this season. Mngqithi is encouraged with the 28-year-old’s return of nine goals in 12 games across all competitions.

“I’d be lying if I said I’m surprised with what he has done. The reason why we brought him here is because we know that he’s probably one of the best goalscorers in the country at the moment,” said Mngqithi.

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“He may not have other tools that you’d want in an attacker but scoring goals is his art. That’s one thing that I’ve always believed in with him for so many years. I always thought that he should play for a big team. I still maintain that he will help us more in the Champions League.”