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Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane expressed his surprise at the defensive solidity shown by Bloemfontein Celtic, after Saturday's goalless draw at Loftus Versfeld.
Mosimane felt his players were going through the motions in the first half as they relied on their "usual way of playing” but was pleased to see them focus on "width and wing play" after the break.
And, the Downs coach also had words of praise for his Celtic counterpart, Lehlohonolo Seema, saying he was impressed by Siwelele's solid defensive showing, especially after a 3-2 defeat to Free State Stars recently.
Speaking to SuperSport TV after the match, Mosimane said: "We took a long time to get the width and we depended more on our usual way of playing especially in the first half, okay we fixed it in the second half.
"We got a lot of width and wing play, but still we didn't have that strong presence in the box to convert our crosses, to be honest.
"They defended well, and they did what they had to do, it is tactics and why not?"
He continued: "Yeah, that's where we say the coaches are good, they corrected their mistakes at the back, but I have never seen Celtic play like this before, but they did it today.
"It's right, why not, but let's see if they can continue to defend properly like they did today."
Mosimane also commented on the tackle on Tiyani Mabunda by Celtic's Mbhazima Rikhotso, which he felt could easily have been deemed a red-card offense.
"If it's a yellow card offence, I am happy he got a cautioned and it looks like there was a big lunge there and those are leg breaking tackles," he said.
"If the referees are not going to deal with these tackles, there was a referee who dealt with it in the Nedbank Cup.
"I think Ace Ncobo will enlighten us, there's nothing wrong in having an opinion, sometimes I am right. Yeah, but it's okay.
"It's a title race and it's happening to Liverpool and Manchester City. So, we have to play, keep going and it shows how difficult it is."
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