Mamelodi Sundowns attacking midfielder Haashim Domingo says they will keep their feet on the ground following a demolition job against Maritzburg United on Tuesday.
Domingo was one of those who made a feast of the poor and mistaken-laden Maritzburg, scoring twice as Sundowns ran riot to a 5-0 victory to bounce back from the crushing 3-0 defeat over Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 semi final last weekend.
Another player who shone for Sundowns in a rare league start was Cassius Mailula, who also grabbed a brace, while the other goal was scored by Thapelo Morena. The latter was involved in three goals, assisting twice and scoring once to earn the Man of the Match award.
In doing so, Sundowns became the first side to win five matches on the bounce this season, taking their tally to 25 points after 11 matches, three points ahead of second-placed Richards Bay with a game in hand. However, Domingo insisted they will not get carried away after this massive win.
“We will keep our feet on the ground and we will use that 5-0 as a confidence booster because each and every game we want to score as many goals as we can,” said Domingo.
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“But definitely we want to go there, respect the opposition for who they are and try our utmost best to get the best results at the end of the day.”
This win came a day after Sundowns reshuffled things in the technical area, promoting Rulani Mokwena as the club Head Coach, while Manqoba Mngqithi was demoted as the Senior Coach, while Steve Komphela is now the First Team coach.
Next up for the Tshwane giants is a visit to Royal AM at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday (18:00), having remained in KwaZulu-Natal for the whole week to prepare for this match. The venue holds good memories for Sundowns as they lifted the league title there in the last game of last season.
“What you can expect is a team that is really going to come at us because they have confidence of getting the three points in their last game [against Golden Arrows on Tuesday],” said Domingo, whose Sundowns will be without Peter Shalulile who underwent a hernia surgery.
“They won’t sit back and they will come at us. But also it is a team that is very flexible, especially the front three, they interchange positions. We need to remain disciplined in that regard and to our plan.”
Mailula became the second youngest player to score a brace for Sundowns at the age of 21 years, four months and 14 days old. Raphael Chukwu is the youngest player for Sundowns to score a brace, as he was 20 days younger than Mailula, in November 1996 away against AmaZulu.
“If he can keep working hard, he could be even better and 10 times better,” added Domingo.
