Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Marcelo Allende and utility player Lebohang Maboe have opened up on their contrasting milestones against Golden Arrows.
Allende, despite rave reviews from fans about his performancs for Sundowns this season, only got his first Man of the Match award in the 26th game of the league campaign after they rescued a 1-1 draw against Golden Arrows on Wednesday and preserved their unbeaten run under head coach Rulani Mokwena.
The Chilean midfield maestro says he is happy to finally be recognized with the award in the DStv Premiership.
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"I'm very happy for the individual award. Not an easy result, we drew even though we had chances to win the game," Allende told the club's media through a translator.
"But I'm happy for the first recognition of this individual award. We will work on what is left for the week, more into details of what is missing."
The former Montevideo City Torque midfielder continued and said that they were not happy with a draw and will work hard to get the team back to winning ways.
"Well, no in this team we always play to win, we don't settle well with a draw. It doesn't matter if we play home or away, we always want to get three points," he said.
"Like I said, we're going to work hard to get back to winning ways that we are used (to) in this team."
In contrasting emotions for Maboe, he made his first appearance of the calendar year off the bench against Arrows after a knee injury that kept him out for almost the entire season.
The versatile player was out from the start of the season and returned in October last year but the knee injury recurred and he only bounced back on the field on Wednesday.
Maboe says it means a lot to him to finally be back on the pitch and get the feeling back of playing competitively.
"It's a great relief for me to be back on the field, I mean I've been out for so long, just to be on the pitch and play this game with the team means so much to me," the former Maritzburg United utility player told the club's media.
"I feel like once you're out for so long, you really get to understand how it's like to just want to spend time on the pitch.
"It's been a very challenging, tough couple of months but I just stuck through it and just excited to be back and help the team. It feels great being back," he added.
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