Mngqithi disappointed with blunt Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi was left disappointed after his side played to a second successive 0-0 draw on Wednesday, with his much-vaunted attack unable to break down Bloemfontein Celtic at Loftus Stadium.

Sundowns had their chances but were wasteful in front of goal, while they were also fortunate not to concede with a goal by Celtic’s Sera Motebang inexplicably ruled out for offside when two home defenders played him on in one of the poorer decisions seen this season.

"This one was a little bit of a tough one because I think we got some opportunities where we could have opened the game up, it's not going to be easy when they [Celtic] are sitting deep and not giving us space behind the defence," Mngqithi said.

"I thought the chances we got in the first-half, Kermit [Erasmus] was very unfortunate today I believe he could have easily scored a hat-trick but on the day, we must just accept that.

"But I still believe we were not at our sharpest point, not very sharp and convincing, maybe when we made the substitutions in the second-half and refreshed the team that's where we started to look [better] with quicker combinations to try and get behind the defence.

"But all in all, I still think it was not a performance one would have expected but what can we do? We can just appreciate that we did not concede again and we have not lost a match, they had some scary moments on counter-attacks and they always trouble us on counter-attacks but I think today we dealt with those situations a little bit better.”

Mngqithi admits they will have to find a cutting edge ahead of their next clash against second-placed Swallows on Saturday.

"It's just not looking good when you're not scoring in two matches in a row being a team like Sundowns, not taking away the fact that their goalkeepers put in some good saves.

“Jackson [Mabokgwane] did very well on Kermit in the first-half, Sipho Chaine also did very well second-half. We have to go back and work, hopefully in the big one [on Saturday] we'll be able to get the desired results."

Sundowns lead Swallows at the top of the table by a point, but have played a game more.