Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has admitted that Marumo Gallants pushed them during the Nedbank Cup final at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng, Rustenburg, on Saturday evening.
The Brazilians defeated Gallants 2-1 to make a clean sweep of titles after having won the MTN8 and the DStv Premiership trophies this season.
Peter Shalulile and Thapelo Morena scored for the Tshwane giants while Sede Dion netted for the Limpopo side.
“I think the level of competition was very good. The intensity of the match was very good for both teams. We pushed them, they pushed us. We should have killed the game in the first half. We created good opportunities from our high press,” Mngqithi said.
Winning the Nedbank Cup trophy capped a very good domestic season for Sundowns coaches and players.
“I’m very happy for them for bringing this home to make sure we salvage a bit of pride. Bombing out of the Champions League was not nice. When these boys make sure that this season we got a clean sweep, we must appreciate,” the former Lamontville Golden Arrows coach said.
Meanwhile, Gallants coach Daniel Malesela has said that they knew that the encounter was going to be difficult.
“Very difficult game, also got entertained. Probably what people wanted to watch. We knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be very tactical,” Malesela said.
