Rulani slams Chiefs win: The match was not pleasing

Mamelodi Sundowns secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the DStv Premiership on Saturday evening.

Neo Maema’s fifth goal of the season was enough to seal the win for the Brazilians, who now hold the record for most consecutive wins in the top-flight (12).

Neo Maema scores for The Brazilians

Kaizer Chiefs 0 – 1 Mamelodi Sundowns
Update @ 37:00Sundowns KaizerChiefs DStvPrem pic.twitter.com/dBX42wE6x9

— News Live SA (@newslivesa) January 21, 2023

Despite the win, head coach Rulani Mokwena was not pleased with the overall performance, claiming the game was “too open”. Speaking to SuperSport TV after the match, Mokwena said, “First let me start by saying congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club, congratulations to the players, congratulations to the supporters, I’m sure this means a lot to them. You really want to know? I didn’t like the match, it’s too open. No, that I will speak to the players about. I spoke to them at half-time about it and I’ll speak to them a little bit about it but it’s a 90 minutes I don’t like.”

Despite not being impressed with the overall performance, Mokwena praised his team for beating a “big club” like Chiefs. “Oh, for sure, we beat Kaizer Chiefs and that’s a big positive. I’m not complaining about the quality of the players, I’m not complaining about the win, congratulations to the team, we work very hard,” he said.

Mokwena went on to explain that the team needed to play with more simplicity, saying, “The performance has got a lot of good things, especially when we played very simple, we pass and we move the ball and we get into the right position a little bit quick enough before the opposition arrives. But when it lacks the simplicity it becomes too open and I don’t like when the game is too open, I like a little bit of control and so ja, congratulations we still beat Kaizer Chiefs you know. It’s a big team, we’re a bit team for sure and these are the games we have to win and congratulations to the football club, congratulations to the supporters, congratulations to the entire club.”