Marumo Gallants coach Raymond Mdaka says his players’ strong character played the decisive role in their remarkable turnaround on Sunday as they scored three goals in the space of five minutes to beat St Eloi Lupopo of the Democratic Republic of Congo and finish top of their African Confederation Cup group.
The 3-2 win late in the night at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto confirmed Gallants at the top of the group A standings and sets them up for home advantage in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie.
“We aimed to finish at the top as much as we knew it wouldn’t be easy. Congrats to the boys, I think we did a very good job and we’ll see what comes next.
“We know the character of our boys. We wanted to give a number of players a chance to play from those who are not playing regularly but we knew the character that we have so it was not a big challenge to fight from 0-2 down.”
Mdaka suggested complacency might have seen Gallants slip 2-0 down at halftime and out of top place in group A as closest rivals USM Alger were winning at home against Al Akhdar of Libya at the same time.
But the second-half substitutions made all the difference as Gallants threw on regulars Ranga Chivaviro, Katlego Otladisa and Sibusiso Sibeko to try and turn the tide of the game.
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— iDiski Times (@iDiskiTimes) April 2, 2023
? 71' 1-2 Sibeko
? 73' 2-2 Chivaviro
? 75' 3-2 Moseamedi
Marumo Gallants scored three goals in five minutes to come from two goals down and beat Saint Eloi Lupopo to top Group A of the CAF Confederations Cup. #CAFCC pic.twitter.com/H2mqEpEzkE
Sibeko pulled the first goal back in the 70th minute in a goalmouth scramble before Chivaviro bent one in from range only two minutes later to equalise.
It was Judas Moseamedi who grabbed the winner in the 75th minute to complete a dramatic turnaround.
“Once you enter a competition. You want to go all the way, but we are expecting a tough challenge next. It’s a difficult competition,” said Mdaka as Gallants now look ahead to the draw on Wednesday.