Downs put Arrows to sword
The Pretoria side came into this game off the back of three successive wins and with confidence immediately stamped their authority on the game.
Mamelodi Sundowns demolished Golden Arrows 3-0 at the Lucas Moripe stadium on Tuesday evening, to secure a spot in MTN8 final.
The match was the second leg of the MTN8 semi-final after the first leg finished 1-1 in KwaZulu-Natal two weeks ago.
The Pretoria side came into this game off the back of three successive wins in the league, and with confidence immediately stamped their authority on the game.
Goals from Peter Shalulile, Neo Maema and Divine Lunga were enough to give the home side a 3-0 win and overall 4-1 win aggregate.
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After the game, Downs head coach Manqoba Mngqithi hailed his troops for executing their game plan.
“One should give credit to the boys because I think they stuck to our tactical agreements because the most dangerous players for Arrows, who create goal-scoring opportunities are their centre-backs,” Mngqithi told SuperSport TV
He said one thing his team did well was put pressure on the Arrows centre-backs, making it difficult for them to play from the back.
“Because from the back, immediately they go to their left-back and they are one team in the league that is averaging 15 crosses per match. So we had to analyse and diagnose where exactly are those situations coming from. We dealt with them very well, unfortunate that out of those high presses we did not score a goal, up until the dying stages where we got a very good goal from Neo Maema,” Mngqithi said.
In the second-half, Downs had a 2-0 lead and Mngqithi said the players allowed the game to be little bit scrappy with victory looming
“Immediately when Sphelele Mkhulise came in, we regained the stability and played with a little bit more composure because it was a rush-rush.
“When you’re playing a lot of long balls against Arrows and opening yourself up for a lot of counter-attacks then the game becomes interesting for them. But the moment you have a lot of possession, they struggle with that and we dealt with that very well. I’m very happy to know that the boys could manage to score three,” he said.
🟡 𝙉𝙚𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙚𝙢𝙖 with one of the best goals you'll see in the #MTN8.
Denis Onyango and Themba Zwane on their feet in the stands 👏 pic.twitter.com/10wShxXluH
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) September 28, 2021
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