With Peter Shalulile leading the line with aplomb this season, it looked as though Gift Motupa, another new signing at the start of the campaign
The birth of a potentially deadly striking combination has been confirmed by Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi.
With Peter Shalulile leading the line with aplomb this season, it looked as though Gift Motupa, another new signing at the start of the campaign, might struggle to get a look in, especially given that Kermit Erasmus was also another option.
But when both Shalulile and Erasmus were out injured Motupa took his chance and Mngqithi suggested he’d become hard to drop.
He was paired with leading goalscorer Shalulile in Sunday’s DStv Premiership win over TS Galaxy, a result which sent Downs seven points clear at the top.
“That combination is giving us a lot of hope and direction in our play. It gives us stability up top because we know we’ve got a proper No.9 and there’s the surprise factor of Peter coming in later into areas that are dangerous,” Mngqithi told the media.
“In the first half Peter could have easily scored from a header, but it went wide. Not many people can detect his movements when he’s coming from far, unlike when he’s already sitting on top. We are hopeful he will score more goals and help us.”
Last week Mngqithi also admitted that Motupa had arrived at Downs carrying excess weight, but worked extremely hard to be in shape.
It now looks to be paying off and he could be an ace up their sleeve in the final weeks of the league campaign as well as in the CAF Champions League, where Sundowns face Al Ahly over two legs in the quarterfinals this month.
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