- We are going to use the Stellebonsch game to bounce back to our winning ways, says Celtic head coach
Bloemfontein Celtic coach Lehlohonolo Seema was not too pleased with the officiating after his side went down to Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday evening.
Phunya Sele Sele had envisaged to inflict some measure of revenge for their 2-1 loss at the hands of the Brazilians during the MTN 8, but it was not to be.
Masandawana travelled to Bloemfontein and bagged their second win of the season in the Premier League, much to the disappointment of hundreds of Siwelele fans who sang their hearts out in support of their boys.
The defending champions opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Mosa Lebusa before Sundowns’ second goal four minutes inside the second stanza arrived from the penalty spot, a decision which did not sit well with Seema.
Hardly ever to complain about referees, Seema this time clearly showed displease with the referee’s decision.
Siwelele got a penalty of their own three minutes before time which Sera Motebang converted, but Seema questioned the decision to hand Sundowns a spot-kick.
Seema said the decision to award Sundowns a penalty was questionable and in his opinion should not have been given.
“I normally don’t complain about referees but today the referee could have handled it [the game] better. There were challenges that he let go. You could see Sundowns after every foul, check how many seconds or minutes they got to restart the game. They wanted to kill our rhythm.
“The penalty to Sundowns . . . I still want to see it again. The referee today could have handled the game better,” he noted.
Reflecting on the overall match, Seema expressed delight in the way his troops played and finished.
“I like the way we finished. We fought to the end and they felt our presences,” he added.
From this defeat, Celtic will have two weeks to prepare for their match against Stellenbosch on September 15.
“We might have lost this match but I still think that we could have easily salvaged a draw.
“A difficult game as expected, I think we played against a team that you could see can manage the game. They managed the game well,” acknowleged the Celtic coach.
“They knew when to attack, when to defend, and when to slow down the tempo of the game. We started well; we were using the ball better in the first half, up until they got the goal,” he continued.
Coming from the loss, Seema said, the team will try to rectify their mistakes.
The loss was disappointing he added.
