Golden Arrow eliminated Ronwen Williams – Manqoba Mngqithi

Lamontville Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi has highlighted one tactical aspect his charges understood for them to overcome Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 on Wednesday in a South Africa’s elite league match.

Going into the Betway Premiership game at King Zwelithini Stadium, few gave the Durban-based side a chance to defeat the holders who have won the league for eight straight seasons.

Mngqithi speaks after downing former side Sundowns

Despite the recent struggles, the former Sundowns tactician said he was never in doubt on his team’s abilities against his former employers.

“I do believe that we created enough to score more than one goal,” Mngqithi told SuperSport Television.

“But you must know that we were still very anxious coming from three defeats. We lost in games we shouldn’t have lost. In football, when these things happen, it is easy for anyone to believe that a team is not on the right level. I was happy for the boys to get the win. It will give them confidence getting into the next game.”

“We felt it was important to try to eliminate Ronwen Williams in the build-up so that when it gets to the centre, he does not get back because he is very clinical. We also wanted to try to keep our sixes closer to their number 10…the team stuck to the tactics and understood their role. We were paying against a very good team and we had to try to take care of the areas where we think they are very dangerous,” Mngqithi added.

The qualified school teacher returned to Arrows, where he made a name over a decade ago, last season after being axed by Sundowns’ management which opted to hire Miguel Cardoso. Under the Portuguese, the Pretoria-based side managed to retain the Betway Premiership title and reach the 2024-2025 CAF Champions League final.

However, the start to this season has not be smooth with the Pretoria-based giants being knocked out of the MTN8 followed by a draw, some wins and Wednesday’s first league defeat of the campaign. Junior Dion scored for Arrows to deflate the expensively assembled opponents.

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