MAMELODI Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena praised his charges for the effort showed on Friday, beating Coton Sport 3-1 in their Caf Champions League group match.
Cassius Mailula continued with his impressive form scoring a brace, with the other goal coming from Thapelo Morena.
The Brazilians players, most of whom were making their debut in the Champions League, made it two victories in two Group B matches, having won last weekend 1-0, beating Al-Hilal.
Talking after the match, Mokwena praised his players and insisted that they still need to improve and get better.
“I thought in the first half we played according to instructions, everything went according to the plan and we got the three goals,” said Mokwena.
“And Coton Sport reacted by bringing on Marie Mekong in, and it was a good move because he added more intensity to their midfield. We struggled a little bit with their physicality. But we will improve. We have to get better.
More than five players in the Sundowns were making their debut in the Champions League. Mokwena was happy with their performance.
Mokwena added: “Mailula, Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena, Mothobi Mvala, Grant Kekana and Marcelo Allende are playing for the first time in this tournament.
“This is important experience they are gaining but we will definitely get better, we managed to beat a very good and physical side with a lot of technicality.”
Sundowns will now return home and prepare for their subsequent crunch encounter, where they will travel to Egypt for a Saturday clash against Al Ahly in Cairo.
Mokwena has predicted that it will be challenging in Cairo, but they will have to fight as they are looking at reaching 10 points in their group as soon as possible to enhance their chances of reaching the knockout stages.
He concluded: “We have to get the players ready for what is going to be a difficult game against Al Ahly in Egypt. This is a very difficult group, we still have games to play but the focus is to get to 10 points to get ourselves in a position of reaching quarter final mathematically. Then we set another objective for ourselves which is to finish first (in the group).”
