Shalulile’s scoring puts smile on coach’s face

A return to scoring form for Peter Shalulile delighted his Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi as they thrashed Cape Town City 3-0 in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday.

The Namibian goal ace netted twice for his first league goals since May, although he did score a fortnight ago in the Carling Knockout win over Lamontville Golden Arrows.

“I'm sure everybody's excited to see him going back to his scoring ways, because we know when he's on the roll, he can really, really help us this season,” said Mngqithi, whose side has won five of six league games this season and is in second place behind Orlando Pirates, who have a full house of points.

“That's why we kept the faith. We've been giving him opportunity after opportunity because we believed that he would come back and give us what we want.

“And I'm very happy that he came in and really delivered.

“We wanted him fresh for this match, which is why we did not want to play him against Polokwane City, but we were forced to bring him on in the last minutes.

“And I was very impressed to see him playing the way he played, I think in many moments, he was very important to our team.”

The double lifted Shalulile to 120 goals in South African football, as Sundowns changed the line-up after the loss at Polokwane on Sunday and overran City.

“I think we started the game very well. (We had) good energy, good intensity, good ball speed, and I think our build ups were spot on, and we created good opportunities from most of those situations,” added the Sundowns coach.

“And it was pleasing to see the team giving a reaction like this, because that's what we expected. In as much as we scored three … and I'm happy with three … but I maintain that we could have scored more.

“And when I look at the chances that we got, I think we could have done even better. But nonetheless, one should appreciate the fact that from a defeat (against Polokwane City on Sunday), we've managed to win against what I believe is one of the best teams in the league.”