Pitso: Game of two halves

Pretoria - Following his side’s 3-1 PSL victory over the University of Pretoria on Saturday evening, Mamelodi Sundowns boss Pitso Mosimane praised his team’s first half performance for guiding the team to their sixth league win of the season.

First half goals from Cuthbert Malajila and Khama Billiat helped the Brazilians edge 10-man Tuks, who were reduced to a man down with half-an-hour to play.

Malajila opened the scoring in the third minute, before Tuks equalised through Grant Kekana three minutes later, but the log-leaders restored their advantage through Billiat in the 28th minute.

The visitors applied the finishing touches in the 94th minute, as Rodney Ramagalela scored his first goal for Sundowns, after joining the club from Black Leopards before the new season.

“It was a game of two halves. In the first half we controlled, but in the second half Tuks took over,” Mosimane said after the game at the Tuks Stadium.

“It was not an easy game. The last 15 minutes determined the outcome.

“I’ve watched Tuks’ last three games and I haven’t seen them so confident attacking the way they did in the second half.

“Tuks has a good team. If they attack the way they attacked (against Sundowns), it doesn’t resemble the number of goals they’ve scored.”

The University outfit have only managed five goals in their nine games so far, while Sundowns have scored four times as many, which has allowed them to sit two points clear at the summit of the league table.

Mosimane explained that he had to wait patiently for the third and decisive goal to come, albeit deep into stoppage-time.

“I knew they (Tuks) were going to get emotional. I knew they would attack, because they had to attack and they were playing in front of their own supporters.

“I waited for the chance, I knew the break was going to come and it came and we took it.

“We scored three goals so I can’t complain.”

With 20 points from their nine fixtures thus far, Mosimane’s troops have the opportunity of moving a further three points ahead, due to a game in hand over second-placed SuperSport United.

Having beefed-up his squad ahead of the new season, with the likes of Ramagalela, Billiat and Malajila joining the Chloorkop side during the off-season, Mosimane conceded that the team were still far from their best.

“Ramagalela has just started to play now,” he said.

“It’s not easy to put it (the team) together.

":You can see the team really isn’t smooth, but we’re doing the business.

“It takes time, when you have a lot of players. We’re doing well because we are tactically disciplined, we have those individual players who are good.”

But an abundance of goals has left the former Bafana Bafana coach a happy man.

“We’re doing well because my strikers are scoring. (Katlego) Mphela comes in and he scores twice, (Katlego) Mashego comes in, he scores two.

“Ramagalela comes in and he scores, Cuthbert (Malajila) comes in and he scores, Khama Billiat scores.

“So the team is scoring and we’re free-flowing, we have a lot of goals in the team, so that keeps us going.

“The play… isn’t there yet.”