On Sunday afternoon, Stellenbosch FC held Mamelodi Sundowns to a 1-1 draw at Danie Craven Stadium, becoming the first team to deny the reigning champions maximum points in 16 matches. Iqraam Rayners late penalty helped Stellies rally back to earn a hard-fought point. After the match, Stellies head coach Steve Barker praised his side’s tactical performance, noting that they followed the plan well and deserved a minimum of one point.
Barker said: “For me I think a very accomplished performance by us, I thought tactically we were really astute today. The unfortunate part is we know all their tactics well and we denied them spaces, they didn’t have that many chances and then we conceded, you know from a set-piece and that was an unfortunate part. So I think we deserved the minimum point, the fact that we managed to get a point for we was just a great team effort, tactically really well drilled and executed plan well.”
Sundowns held by Stellenbosch pic.twitter.com/L4hrHxMJTA
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) March 5, 2023
The coach also noted that the team had a great start in the first 25 minutes of the match, but the conditions made it difficult for them. He concluded by saying that the point against a strong team was a great foundation on which to build and continue going forward.
Stellenbosch will now face another tough test when they travel to face Kaizer Chiefs in the DStv Premiership on Wednesday.
