Mamelodi Sundowns won 2-1 against Wydad Casablanca with Themba Zwane scoring twice.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is satisfied that his side did not concede a goal from a set-piece in their hardfought 3-1 Caf Champions League‚ group stages win over Asec Mimosas on Friday night at Loftus.
The Brazilians scored goals from Mosa Lebusa‚ Themba Zwane and debutant substitute Emiliano Tade‚ three days after he joined from AmaZulu during the week‚ while Asec found the back of the net from the penalty spot through Hamed Diomande.
“We played well in different phases of the game and if you see the last 15 minutes of the first half we were down a little bit. You have to understand that we went into this match from two losses in a row and you could see the players were not confident in the first half‚” said Mosimane after the match.
“I am just happy that we did not concede from a set-piece‚ which has been a problem for us over the past few games. From the first half I knew we will take the match but the issue was taking our opportunities because we did not take our chances AmaZulu in the league here earlier in the week.
“We created lots of chances against AmaZulu but never took them and it was the same in the first half against Wydad Casablanca recently where we could have scored at least three goals.
Mosimane also gave credit to Zwane‚ who scored the second goal for Sundowns and created the third‚ for his unselfishness as he took the correct decision of laying the ball for Tade‚ who was better positioned in the box.
“It was a good pass from Themba‚ who played for the team by picking Tade up with the pass‚” he said.
Sundowns and Asec will meet again on February 12 in the return leg at the imposing Stade Felix Houphouet Boigny in Abidjan and Mosimane is expecting them to be difficult to beat because there is still a lot to play for in the group.
Before they travel to West Africa‚ Sundowns will take on Black Leopards in the Absa Premiership on Wednesday where they will be looking to close the gap on current log leaders Bidvest Wits.