Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena was delighted by the performance of his fringe players in their 6-1 thrashing of Motsepe Foundation Championship side La Masia in the Nedbank Cup last 32.
Sundowns led 4-1 by half-time, and were no match for Daine Klate’s charges.
Gaston Sirino delivered a hat-trick, and other goals came from Lebogang Maboe, Terrence Mashego and new signing Matias Esquivel.
Rulani was impressed by personality he saw in his team.
“Let’s congratulate Mamelodi Sundowns for going through to the next round, much better performance for sure, so a lil bit more of the personality we want to see.
“And the subs were good also, so very proud of the team, congratulations. Also commiserations to La Masia you know, I like teams that play, the coaching, the detail from Daine Klate’s team, so huge heads off to them for coaching a very good side and advocating for a very good style of play.
“Unfortunate that today they lost but they’ve got a very good team and they play good football, very good players, I’m sure they’ll have a very good season and I wish them all the best for the rest of the season,” Rulani said to SuperSport TV.
Maboe, Sirino, Divine Lunga were some of the fringe players who were given an opportunity to impress. Rulani applauded them for taking their opportunities.
“Ja, we have to try, we’re going into that space, this time of the season you need everybody and when they put up their hands like this and perform well with a good attitude, good energy, the intensity is good, good mental focus, zero mistakes, it’s much better.
“We made one or two mistakes, okay it happens, I’m happy with the bravery in the second half especially, to try and get more on the ball, not to be too worried about the surface of the pitch and we tried.
“(Bongani) Zungu was good, stabilized things, (Thembinkosi) Lorch came in good assist, Lebo Maboe was strong contender for Man of the Match (award), Gaston was excellent, good hattrick as we ask from him. Good overall performance and congratulations to the team and the entire football club,” Rulani added.
