Mamelodi Sundowns head coach has defended Mothobi Mvala after his costly error in Saturday’s rare 1-0 loss to Cape Town City in the DSTV Premiership.
Facing pressure from the pressing Jaeden Rhodes, Mvala lost the ball in a critical situation, allowing the City forward to sneak through and net past Ronwen Williams on the half-hour mark.
The result was Sundowns’ first league loss this season, denying them the invincible status in their final game.
The Brazilians continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser, but it wasn’t to be, with goalkeeper Darren Keet producing a string of good saves to deny the home side.
Rulani rallied behind Mvala, insisting that errors are part of football.
“He knows I love him like I love all my players. We all make mistakes, and I make more mistakes than anyone else. It is part of football and also it is perspective.
“If I ask you, ‘what do you see when I lift up my hand?’, you see a hand with five fingers and if I turn my hand around there is a difference.
“The difference is colour and if I look at the hand at the same time with you, I see a completely different colour to what you see, but it is still the same hand. So, my perspective is completely different from that of a lot of people,” Mokoena told the media after the game.
🏆𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦🏆
On a day filled with joy & celebration, the legendary Hlompho Kekana was our man on the ground to capture the emotion of our players as we celebrated our 14th PSL title! 🥳
Watch the special piece now on YouTube! 📲… pic.twitter.com/zByy3AZ0pM
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) May 26, 2024
Mvala’s string of error-prone performances have made him less favored with the Masandawana faithful and the general public.
The tough-tackling defender scored an own goal in the CAF Champions League semifinal against Wydad Casablanca in the 2022/23 season. His error led to the exit of Downs via aggregate (2-2).
Rulani says he will not allow Mvala’s single error to overshadow his strong performances in the other 29 league games.
“When people see mistakes, I see 29 games of incredible effort, and that is the perspective I choose, and he will definitely see the perspective the same way I see it because he will get the emotions from me.
“My players know how much I love them; I have been with Mothobi Mvala through a lot of things. There are a lot of things you guys don’t know about the connection I have with this group. You can rest assured Mothobi will see the perspective I see,” Rulani insisted.