SuperSport United’s hopes of catching Mamelodi Sundowns in the Absa Premiership title race were dealt a significant blow on Tuesday night, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Loftus Versfeld.
RESULT ‼️
Mamelodi Sundowns 1️⃣
SuperSport United 0️⃣Neo Maema ⚽️DStvPrem UNPLAYABLE pic.twitter.com/TVJMmHFkYm
— UNPLAYABLE (@UnplayableZA) January 16, 2023
Neo Maema’s solitary strike in the first half was enough to guide the defending champions to victory, and open up a 14-point gap at the top of the table. SuperSport United head coach Gavin Hunt had no complaints about his side’s performance, noting their wastefulness in front of goal, but praising the overall showing.
“I thought we were the better team…created the most chances. But you got to score against a team like this,” Hunt said. “We came here with a real patch up team, you know a lot of players out…seven players out from the starting eleven and I got to comment the players.” Hunt went on to praise the team, who were without goalkeeper Ricardo Goss and star midfielder Grant Margeman.
“They changed the way they play a little bit over the last couple of weeks and I thought we got what we got and we’re thin…let’s just go with what we good at and what we know and I thought it was good,” he said.
“Thapelo (Maseko) should’ve scored, the youngster the first five minutes he went through with the keeper and doesn’t score and obviously things happen and very unfortunate, but I commend the players, they were magnificent.” Hunt concluded by noting that with Sundowns now 14 points clear, they are in a strong position to claim the title.
“They should be able to do it quite easily now,” he said.
