We could have scored seven or eight — Sundowns coach

It turns out four goals are not enough to please Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi. 

The Brazilians thrashed Eswatini minnows Mbabane Swallows 4-0 through goals by Mosa Lebusa, Iqraam Rayners and a brace from Lucas Ribeiro in the first leg of their Champions League final preliminary round clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday night. 

Sundowns, who scored their first goals after firing blanks in MTN8 matches against Polokwane City and Stellenbosch FC, are now effectively guaranteed to progress to the group stages when they host the second leg on Saturday, also at Lucas Moripe Stadium. 

Swallows played their first leg home game in Pretoria due to their ground not passing Confederation of African Football standards.

“I was happy with scoring four goals, to be honest, but I am still unhappy because we got a lot of other chances that we should have scored but we didn’t take them,” Mngqithi said.

“In my space I prefer that we try to improve our movements and schemes in the attacking third, but when we improve on that it must also result in goals.

“In the games we played against Polokwane City and Stellenbosch my complaint was not that we were not creating chances, but we were not finishing the chances we got.” 

Sundowns went to the break in full control of the game with a 3-0 lead after first-half goals from Ribeiro, Lebusa and Rayners, but they only added one in the second half when the Brazilian attacker registered his brace. 

“We could have scored seven or eight goals had we taken our chances because we got in good positions and we nullified the possibility of conceding from the opponents,” Mngqithi said. 

“When you don’t take your chances, it can easily result in it being 1-0 for the opponents from the few counterattacks they got in the later stages. I still believe the chances we got were too many for us to have been able to get as many goals as possible.”