Brazilians to take out their anger on Maritzburg?

Sundowns players warming up

Tuesday Oct 25, 2022. 11:00

Maritzburg United may well feel the backlash of an angry Mamelodi Sundowns when the teams meet in one of four midweek DStv Premiership catch-up fixtures.

The Brazilians will take on the Team of Choice on Tuesday evening at the Harry Gwala Stadium, having suffered a stinging 3-0 defeat at the hands of fellow heavyweights Orlando Pirates in the second leg of their MTN8 semifinal in Polokwane this past weekend.

The result knocked Sundowns out of the competition and killed off their hopes of defending the Top Eight title.

In response, co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi admitted that they have struggled in the absence of injured striker Peter Shalulile.

“For sure, we will be lying when we say we are not missing Peter,” the tactician explained. “Everybody knows how dependent we are in his ability to finish our chances and also to pose a lot of danger.

“He also gives a chance from the first line of defence with his high press, speed and so on. That to a certain extent had an effect on the whole team, but we were consoling ourselves with a number of goals [16] we scored in the three matches before this game.

“But we knew for a fact that at some point if we didn’t take our chances we might be exposed for [not] having a player of Peter Shalulile’s calibre.”

Tuesday also sees Royal AM and Golden Arrows meet in a Durban derby at Chatsworth Stadium – with Thwihli Thwahla looking to avoid a fourth straight league defeat – as well as Cape Town City hosting Chippa United, who have racked up four straight wins.

“Four wins in a row means a lot, but it is for the players, because they worked hard under difficult circumstances,” said Chilli Boys coach Morgan Mammila.

“The team was sitting bottom of the DStv Premiership standings not so long ago, but players proved to be strong mentally and they fought like soldiers to put the team where it is at the moment.”

The midweek action will be rounded out with a lone game on Wednesday which sees Marumo Gallants (who have managed just one win all season and sit at the bottom of the log) welcome AmaZulu (who have gone seven league outings without victory) to Peter Mokaba Stadium.

DStv Premiership midweek fixtures

Times CAT

Tuesday 25 October

17:00: Royal AM v Golden Arrows

19:30: Maritzburg United v Mamelodi Sundowns

19:30: Cape Town City v Chippa United

Wednesday 26 October

19:30: Marumo Gallants v AmaZulu