The humiliating substitution of Sekhukhune United goalkeeper Renaldo Leaner on Friday night is a blow to his confidence, but new coach Paulus Masehe says he did it to protect the player.
Two errors by Leaner in clearing possession led to two goals for Stellenbosch as they beat Sekhukhune 3-1 in a rain-affected Betway Premiership clash at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town
It led to the visiting goalkeeper being then taken off with 10 minutes to play in the match – 12 minutes after his second error.
His first was an errant short pass to the edge of the penalty box to Thabang Monare, which Genino Palace intercepted to tuck away a left footed finish to make it 2-0 after 39 minutes.
The second in the 68th minute saw Leaner miscue a clearance which fell for Chumani Butsaka, who then played a quick one-two with Devon Titus before finishing off to make it 3-1.
In the 80th minute Leaner was then taken off and replaced by Toaster Nsabata in an embarrassing change that made little sense given Sekhukhune were already two goals down. Leaner showed his displeasure by storming straight down the tunnel to the changing room.
“To be honest, it was more protecting him from maybe conceding even more because it could have been worse had we left him and then he conceded five,” said Masehe, taking charge of his first game since Eric Tinkler’s firing earlier in the week,
“And knowing exactly that, you know, he could have done better. Sometimes you just have to take those kinds of decisions to protect the players,” the new coach added.
Leaner’s humiliation came less than three weeks after he won a first South Africa cap in the second of the World Cup warm-up friendlies against Panama.
He won a call-up to the squad after Sipho Chiane was left out for disciplinary reasons and is in contention for a spot in the World Cup squad, although Friday’s performance will not have boosted his chances.