Pitso Defends Tau After Penalty Miss

Al Ahly forward Percy Tau has received the backing of head coach Pitso Mosimane after his penalty miss in the 1-0 win over Al Ittihad on Wednesday evening.

Tau, 27, raced into the lead for the Golden Boot with five goals in his first six games but has now failed to find the net in the next four games he’s featured in.

The Bafana Bafana star also missed the chance to break his mini goal-drought when he saw his 16th-minute penalty saved by 45-year-old goalkeeper Oussa.

But Mosimane says he’s confident Tau will get back to his usual best as he continues to get into threatening positions since returning from injury.

“It’s not all about that [missing chances], out of the four attackers, in the second half, he looked like he could score or do something you know, last week he had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper who blocked the ball,” Mosimane said after the game.

“Today again one v one and the goalkeeper blocked the ball. So maybe next time he scores, but yes maybe missing a penalty takes a little bit out of your system.”

Tau Misses Penalty But Pitso’s Ahly Remain Unbeaten

The three-time CAF Champions League-winning coach also played down the notion that they are underperforming, stating they are well on course to achieving their objectives for the 2021/22 season.

“We didn’t take our opportunities in the first half and you pay for that, you’re right because this game was very important to win – very important. And I know we can talk about tactics, we can talk about this and this, I know – but what is important is to win the match,” he continued.

“Sometimes, [in] a game like this, you can concede a goal, they were threatening, we have to be honest but we won the match, we got three points, we’re on top of the log, qualified for the Champions League [quarter-finals].

“That’s all we want, I want my team number one on the log and I want my team in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. So we’ve achieved everything, also breaks, up and down in between but Alhamdulillah, we’re number one and qualified.”

The Red Devils face CAF Confederation Cup quarter-finalists Al Masry next in the league at the Borg Al Arab Stadium on Saturday evening (21h30).

FT: 🟢 Al Ittihad 0-1 🔴 Al Ahly

⚽️ Miquissone 36′

FT: ⚪️ Zamalek 3-2 🔵 Pyramids

⚽️ Bencharki 4′
⚽️ El-Said 45′
⚽️ Ashour 53′

⚽️ Gabr 11′
⚽️ Lakay 37′

League Table:

🦅 Al Ahly – 31pts (11 games)
🏹 Zamalek – 28pts (12 games)
▲ Pyramids – 26pts (12 games) pic.twitter.com/odpjvYmvNx

— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) April 6, 2022