Mamelodi Sundowns chairman Thlopie Motsepe expressed that his side’s dominance in South African football has been stunted owing to rival clubs raising the bar.
As it stands, Sundowns sit at the top of the league pile by three points while second-placed Orlando Pirates have two games in hand with a superior goal difference advantage.
To claim top spot and ultimately win their first league title since the 2011/12 campaign, Pirates thus require a win against Durban City this weekend while avoiding a heavy defeat against Orbit College in the match thereafter.
Reflecting on the title race, Motsepe expressed that Sundowns suffered at the hands of stiff competition this time around.
“The way that our competitors raised the bar, and they raised the standard. There were so many teams that we played against who really put on a good show and a good performance for their own supporters and for the product,” Motsepe said, as per IOL.
“For us, we’ve always accepted competition; it makes everybody better. This is one of those moments where you realise that you will improve because of your opponents — your competition pushes you.
“It’s the same in global football; you know, you never have a team that continues to dominate indefinitely on its own. It’s the competition around them that makes them better. I think this is one of those seasons where we can say we had a lot of competition and we welcome it.
“We are very proud that we’ve had a good run and this team is privileged to be part of the competition.”
