Magesi coach Clinton Larsen credited his team’s victory over Mamelodi Sundowns in the Carling Knockout Cup to a targeted strategy against Sundowns’ strikers, Peter Shalulile and Iqraam Rayners.

Magesi staged a remarkable comeback in the second half, scoring two goals after trailing at halftime. Sundowns had taken the lead through Rayner’s strike, but Magesi’s Tshepo Kakora equalized early in the second half. Delano Abrahams later sealed the victory with a clever finish.

This win marked Larsen’s second triumph over Sundowns in this competition, having previously beaten them with Bloemfontein Celtic in the Telkom Knockout.

“Déjà vu, isn’t it?” Larsen said after the match. “In 2012 with Celtic, nobody gave us a chance. We did it, and it was a fairy tale story. People were talking about four, five, six nil, but I was quietly confident that our team could be a lot more competitive than that. 

“Going to the game, the first half, the intention was, we knew we were going to see probably 30 to 35 percent of the ball. But we aimed to go to the break without conceding, which didn’t happen. 

“When Elvis Chipezeze went down with a knock, that is exactly what I discussed with my centre halves. It was to penetrate passes through the feet of Rayners and Shalulile, who was starting to look dangerous and that is exactly how we conceded. 

“So, that was very disappointing not going to the break levelled. The other two chances were strike from outside the box, which is what we wanted; no combination play to break us down, both shots were from outside the box. 

“The first one Chipezeze made a save on the left and the second one was from (Teboho) Mokoena which he tipped over and it was straight at him and the third one the chance went in.”  

As Magesi was content to catch Sundowns on the counterattack as Sundowns controlled possession, Larsen said there was no way they were going to match them when it came to star quality, because they were going to get hurt, just like what happened with Golden Arrows (lost 5-0 first round), SuperSport United (2-0 in the league match) and Marumo Gallants by losing 2-1 in the semi-final to Sundowns.  

“At half time, we had to change things. People may ask why you didn’t start that way in the second half. I saw Golden Arrows starting that way, I saw SuperSport United start that way and Marumo Gallants from the top, look at what happened there,” said Larsen with a cheeky smile. 

“So, we knew it was the right approach and we had some very good chances on the break to catch them, but it wasn’t to be.  

“But in the second half we had to come out and be brave, play a little bit more. What is very rewarding and makes coaches feel happy is when you work on something at training and it comes to fruition in a game. And the two goals were from the training ground and I’m so happy for the players for executing it.”