Why beating Sundowns a tall order - Arthur Zwane

26.08.26 FT South African Betway Premiership

Mamelodi Sundowns FC

5

:

AmaZulu FC

2

AmaZulu FC head coach Arthur Zwane has explained why it's difficult to beat Mamelodi Sundowns following their 5-2 defeat to Miguel Cardoso's men in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday night.

Usuthu were subjected to the full wrath of the Brazilians, who were looking to bounce back after suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Golden Arrows in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final last Sunday.

Zwane believes the reason Sundowns are a tough nut to crack is due to their hunger to assert dominance in the league and on the continent, stating the African champions always come full throttle in the competitions.

“You can see that Sundowns prioritize the Champions League, last season you could see the target was the Champions League, this season the target is the Champions League and the league,” said the AmaZulu boss.

"Sundowns don't play games when it comes to the league and Champions League, they come full force. You look at the team that played against Golden Arrows over the weekend, and then you look at the team that played against us.

"And it's probably for the fourth time now that whenever we meet Sundowns, they come from a situation like this where they come with all their best players available for selection.

While the 52-year-old mentor acknowledges the gap in quality between his team and Sundowns, he insists it's no excuse to not give maximum effort whenever facing the Tshwane giants, and bemoans conceding cheap goals.

“We need to show up, it doesn't matter who they play, it's 11v11 on the field, and we really wanted to give our best today to make sure also that we get positive results and it wasn't to be,” Zwane added.

"The only worrying factor from our side is how we conceded certain goals, maybe I can take the first two goals but the other three in the second half we could have done better in terms of defending, we were just poor at the back.

AmaZulu will return to action with a Betway Premiership clash against Richards Bay at Princess Magogo Stadium on Friday, 04 September, in what will be a KwaZulu-Natal derby.

Hlayisani Magoro

Editorfr, en

Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

Related teams and leagues

Mamelodi Sundowns FC

AmaZulu FC

South African Betway Premiership