Lamontville Golden Arrows co-coach Vusi Vilakazi thinks his side is picking up points at the right time with a few games to go.
Arrows were close to beat Sundowns in Durban for the first time since Clinton Larsen’s side did so in September 2015, when Mabhuti Khenyeza, now the co-coach of the club, scored one of the goals against Pitso Mosimane’s side in a 2-1 win.
Earlier this week, Ryan Moon swept home to open the scoring for Arrows in the first half in KwaMashu, but Sifiso Mlungwana’s buttered fingers allowed Sipho Mbule’s header to slip through his hands for an equalizer.
The draw saw Arrows move to sixth on the DStv Premiership table, with 33 points after 26 matches and a top eight place now in their hands.
Last season, they came close to finish inside the top eight but they were elbowed out by SuperSport United on goal difference, and Vilakazi feels his side is getting better with season petering out.
“I think so as well,” said Vilakazi when asked by iDiski Times.
“We are doing well and obviously the league is a marathon. But you can’t have a bad start and also bad finish – that will be terrible for us.
“Obviously we didn’t start well where we expected to be better, but at least we have picked up now. We are refusing to lose games.
“A point or three points makes a huge difference right now and it was important against a team of Sundowns’ caliber and playing at home, we had to soldier on and try to get three points or worse result could be a draw, like it was.
“We are happy and now we go and play in Cape Town [against Stellenbosch FC on 29 April] and three points there will make a huge difference.”
Arrows gave Sundowns a good account of themselves in two league matches this season. In the first game, Sundowns won 2-1, with Peter Shalulile scoring a penalty and Siyavuya Ndlovu netting in his own net at Tuks Stadium in September.
And in the game on Wednesday, Arrows frustrated Sundowns, and, although Mlungwana produced many saves, he was at fault for letting the ball slip through his fingers for the equaliser.
– Advertisement –
Vilakazi feels they let themselves down in both matches.
“Both games when you look at it, we saw that we beat ourselves,” said Vilakazi.
“In the first round, we gave them the penalty and it was a mistake of an own goal and today it was a mistake from Sifiso. Sundowns found it very difficult to score against us.”
