Durban - Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi slammed the state of the refereeing in his team’s 1-1 draw with Baroka FC at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Monday night.
Masandawana looked to be coasting to yet another league victory before Richard Mbulu scored with literally the last kick of the game to earn Baroka a share of the spoils.
“Sometimes you see things you never thought you would see. Rushine (De Reuck) and the opposition player went for a header. Rushine got the yellow card and was out. They were not treated. Rushine had to stay out while the opposition must be inside. Next Andile Jali was fouled with an elbow and we were not given a free-kick. It’s appalling,” said Mngqithi.
Sundowns used the game to hand a debut to South American Erwin Saavendra who replaced the injured Pavol Safranko.
Lyle Lakay. Left Foot. Free Kick. You Know What Comes Next!💥 @LyLo_7 #Sundowns #DStvPrem pic.twitter.com/D5Tr6aGAea
Mngqithi also questioned whether the offside call against a scoring opportunity which Saavendra created for team-mate Peter Shalulile was the correct call.
“We have not lost the match but the refereeing was very poor today, very poor. I still want to see whether Saavendra was offside when he laid that ball to Peter (Shalulile) because I never thought it was an offside,” he said.
Masandawana did not exert themselves fully into the game which is very understandable. They have virtually already wrapped up a fifth consecutive league title and their main focus at this stage of the campaign will be on the CAF Champions League and Nedbank Cup.
Mngqithi conceded that the game was competitive but still felt his side deserved three points.
“They piled a lot of pressure on us in the second-half. We did not create too many chances in this game. We were reliant on set-pieces, we could see that the game was going to demand a lot because the field is very narrow. They made sure that they played in this field and made sure they put a lot of pressure on us. We could not create clear cut chances but that’s not an excuse. We deserved to win the match after all,” he said.
Sundowns next prepare for a trip to Cairo, Egypt where they will play against Sudanese football club Al-Merrikh at the Al-Salam Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
@EshlinV