For all their recent troubles in front of goal, Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has plenty of reason to smile as the side kept yet another clean sheet.
The Brazilians cemented their spot at the top of the DStv Premiership standings with a narrow 1-0 win over Cape Town Spurs on Tuesday night courtesy of a Lucas Ribeiro goal scored from the spot.
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Despite their victory, a once seemingly invincible Sundowns shows plenty of cracks with recent struggles to score from open play.
Mokwena’s troops also needed an added-time winner from Junior Mendieta to overcome relegation-threatened Richards Bay FC last week.
For all their troubles though, Sundowns have remained nearly impermeable, conceding a league-low of five goals from 20 matches this season
Speaking a the post-match press conference, Mokwena reserved special praise for his side’s defensive strength.
"One of the things I'm very happy about is how measly [stingy] we are in the back, we don't concede a lot of chances for the opponents.
"If there are some situations, it’s because maybe it's a foul or some form of possibility for foul, a penalty and those types, you saw today.
"And for sure, like Spurs play, I said it even before, they put a lot of pressure around your box, so much pressure and for a team that's battling for relegation, I think that's the right way to do it, to play on the front foot, be in opposition [half] and to try... and you can’t complain about that one."
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Sundowns’ rock-solid defence will be put to the test this weekend when they take on University of Pretoria in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final, who are flying high in the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
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