Sundowns: Rulani judges Lorch vs Pirates

Sundowns: Rulani judges Lorch vs Pirates

Last weekend was exciting. Thembinkosi Lorch faced Orlando Pirates as a Mamelodi Sundowns player. How did coach Rulani Mokwena sees his performance?

DSTV PREMIERSHIP RESULT: MAMELODI SUNDOWNS 1-1 ORLANDO PIRATES

It was an unexpected script. The Premier Soccer League postponed last week’s midweek fixtures due to Bafana Bafana’s late return from Afcon 2023.

The event set Sundowns and Pirates to be Lorch’s first game for Kabo Yellow. The 30-year-old from Bloemfontein went on to start the game.

In what was a tight affair with too much tactical play, physicality and stop-starts, Marcelo Allende’s 76th-minute opener was cancelled by a Tapelo Xoki penalty conversion on 80 minutes.

Additionally, the goals came after Lorch was taken off in the 62nd minute for Sipho Mbule.

RULANI MOKWENA RATES THEMBINKOSI LORCH DEBUT

Speaking to the media after the game, Mokwena felt the story behind the transfer move from Pirates affected Lorch.

“With Lorch, the pressure, the talks, his former club, all the other things don’t help for him, and Matias [new attacker from Argentina] still needs to adapt to the league, the intensity, the way we want to play,” Mokwena said via iDiskiTimes.

“So that’s difficult for him and the language doesn’t make it easier but okay we can all get better, we can all improve. The first person who can improve is me, number one,” the Sundowns mentor added.

You can find more articles from Siseko Gwegwe here.