Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi was delighted with his side's 2-0 win over Cape Town City but was disappointed with the side's lapses of concentration after going two goals up.
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The 2-0 outcome meant that Sundowns made a winning start to the season, that they hope will end next July with a sixth consecutive DStv Premiership championship win.
Mngqithi said his side surrendered the initiative after taking a two-goal lead. However, they did not suffer any damage as they held out for a deserved victory and a clean sheet for debutant goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, the former SuperSport United stalwart.
" I do think after we scored the second goal we lost control of the game. The game became too transitional, and we were never really stable on the ball," said Mngqithi.
"At one point, we felt maybe we should have brought on the experienced 'AJ' (Andile Jali) to control the game. The way they were coming at us, we felt we wanted to impose our intensity by bringing on Mothobi (Mvala) and the rest of the guys."
Sundowns came away empty-handed at halftime after enjoying the upper hand, and Mngqithi felt that was cause for concern.
"I think the game was won on intensity. If you check our high presses and our counter-presses count in the first half, we had nine successful high presses," said Mngqithi.
"We were probably lacking on the shots at goal. I think we only had one shot coming from those very successful high presses, but our counter-presses were very good.
"The game was very close. We wanted possession to dominate field and ball. That is what we did manage. We were creating a lot of scoring opportunities, but we were not clinical enough in front of goal."
Both sides made five substitutions in the match that City closed out on an attacking note without reaping a reward.
Reigning champions Sundowns will host TS Galaxy in their next fixture of the season at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday evening.
City will be away to Swallows on Tuesday's International Women's Day at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto.