Pitso praises effort of Downs players in 'tough' win

Mamelodi Sundowns continued to up the pressure on league leaders Kaizer Chiefs with their hard-fought 1-0 Absa Premiership victory over Stellenbosch FC on Wednesday, as coach Pitso Mosimane admitted fatigue is beginning to become a factor for his side.

An early goal from Themba Zwane settled the contest, but Sundowns were made to work hard for the win that takes them to within four points of Chiefs with a game in hand.

"It was tough one, we fought hard, unfortunately the [Champions League] game of Al Ahly took a lot from us. You can see in the last minutes we didn't have the legs but only the heart was there for the guys," Mosimane said.

"They showed resilience, they fought you know. You could see that Themba Zwane, [Gaston] Sirino, I had to take them off because I knew in the end they will never help us.

"The boys at the back [Motjeka] Madisha and Ricardo [Nascimento] showed professionalism, class, experience. Denis [Onyango] came to the party in the last minute. 'AJ [Andile Jali] and 'Keke' [Hlompho Kekana] they were strong, Anele [Ngcongca] is always doing his job. It was good.”

Mosimane says his side were up against a resolute Stellenbosch team, and says he is just relieved to come away with the win.

"What he was cooking was five people at the back, you know three centre-backs but as I told you that, if we score first, now you have to rearrange. So we scored first, we scored early, he had to rearrange.

'We tried to steal the ball a lot because we know they want to turn, we stole it once or twice there but we didn't make full use of it but what can I say? They are a tough team and when you're coming to Cape Town to win here, it's not easy but we're happy with the win.”

Sundowns are next in action on Saturday when they visit Highlands Park in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals.