Lamontville Golden Arrows co-coach Vusi Vilakazi has praised his team for bouncing back after a humiliation loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in their previous game.
Arrows suffered a chastening 4-0 defeat at the hands of Sundowns in Pretoria last week, where they failed to land a punch to their illustrious opposition, defending from first minute to last.
But they have put that hard loss behind them as they beat Polokwane City 3-2 at Mpumalanga Stadium on Saturday, scoring all three goals in the first half.
“We were coming to this game after we lost 4-0,” said Vilakazi.
“So when we come and be able to score three, it shows at least there was an improvement from our side because my players psychologically were very weak.
“So there was another opportunity that we might find ourselves suffering because of the 4-0 we were handed by Sundowns but we managed to come out of our shell and be able to score three, those are positive signs from our club.
“I think going forward, yes there is still a room for improvement, [but] I strongly feel today our subs did not have that impact that we expected from them.
“We had a lot of players who were suffering a burn-out in terms of energy. But it is fine, we will work on that.”
Goalkeeper Ismail Watenga, on loan from Sundowns, completely fluffed a cross when he failed to catch it and Lebogang Nkaki was on hand to make 3-2, which made the game interesting later on.
Kanu, as Vilakazi is known in football space, was not happy about Watenga’s application, who now faces huge competition following the acquisition of Nigerian goalie Olufemi Kayode, since he was the tallest player on the park, literally.
“Yes, I am disappointed because one thing I said in the team talk, I asked him ‘are you aware that you are the tallest player on the field of play?’,” said Vilakazi.
“He was confused and I said ‘you are the tallest because you have hands to catch the ball, to extend from the set-pieces’.
– Advertisement –
“So I was disappointed he came out but couldn’t catch the ball. I think it is one department that he has to improve on. He helped us a lot and he made some good saves, but I think this thing of coming out for crosses [and failing to catch] is still a challenge.
“We will talk, pay attention and speak to the goalkeeper coach to help him in that department.”
Arrows, who moved to fourth following this win, will next visit SuperSport United at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday (17:00).
