Manqoba Mngqithi 'unhappy' with Mamelodi Sundowns' performance after Khuliso Mudau, Thembinkosi Lorch and Teboho Mokoena return to starting line-up - 'When you make so many changes the rhythm is not the same'

Mamelodi Sundowns reclaimed their top spot on the Premier Soccer League table after a 2-1 win over Royal AM on Wednesday night.

Goals from Sphelele Mkhulise and Khuliso Mudau were enough to help the defending champions get maximum points against their visitors who got their sole strike from Sbangani Zulu.

Masandawana coach Manqoba Mngqithi conceded his team lacked the usual flow owing to the changes he made.

It was a match which saw big-name players such as Thembinkosi Lorch, Teboho Mokoena and Khuliso Mudau make their return to the starting line-up.

"When you make so many changes the rhythm is not the same, the personnel is also not the same and to a certain extent. It will bring a certain element of inconsistency in our football actions," he stated.

"But I still believe that the team we played on [Wednesday] was a good one. It is just that almost wholesale changes in the starting eleven make it difficult to have the same stability and cohesion.

"It's a risk that we are taking because we are trying to manage our squad and make sure that we always have a potentially fresh team for every match that we are playing and also trying not to burn out players too early."

"We started the match well from the very first minute. I think we created a chance and scored a goal from the press that we worked on, we anticipated something like that," the tactician continued.

"It was perfect to see Mkhulise scoring from that situation because I think it was exactly what we anticipated. But after scoring that goal I think we became a little bit casual."

Despite stating the game from his team was untidy, the 53-year-old concedes some errors need to be worked on.

"Our game was very untidy, especially in the final third. We could have finished the game in the first half had we just maybe stuck to the basics," Mngqithi added.

"There are many instances where that final pass from Peter [Shalulile], from [Thembinkosi] Lorch, Lucas [Ribeiro] and from almost all the offensive players made some wrong decisions and poor techniques sometimes.

"That kept the game alive up until a point where one felt it was important to change a little bit. We managed to seal the game that looked like it was going to be complicated in the last stages. Overall, it was an interesting match with a lot of mistakes."

The Brazilians will want to continue with their winning streak as they play Polokwane City to ensure they get as many points as possible to stand a chance of winning their eighth successive crown.

All eyes will be on the Buccaneers to see if they have what it takes to challenge Masandawana by posting positive results consistently.