Molefi Ntseki has staunchly defended under-fire team captain Brandon Petersen after his glaring goalkeeping error gifted Mamelodi Sundowns a dramatic 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs in a DStv Premiership clash at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday.
Chiefs grabbed a late equaliser through attacker Ashley du Preez in the 84th minute after Lucas Ribeiro Costa opened the scoring for the Brazilians.
READ | Downs silence Chiefs for back-to-back wins
The Soweto giants' euphoria soon turned to dismay as Petersen failed to handle a tame Neo Maema shot that slipped through his outstretched hands into the back of the net.
Ntseki though, defended Petersen who had earlier in the contest kept Chiefs in the match after a number of important saves.
"When it comes to Brandon, I think things like this do happen in football." Ntseki said post-match.
"If you were to count how many times he came out to save the team, it would nullify the mistakes he made that led to the goals.
"Anything that happens in a game of football, is a team effort.
"If we were to look back and try to trace where the first mistake was made, it is not only about him letting in the goal but the whole team made a mistake and that's how we conceded."
Ntseki also detailed how his side got it wrong tactically when conceding a soft opener that handed the lead to their opponents.
"When they are pressing and close to us, we should know not to try to play out from the back through the middle," Ntseki added.
"I think the substitutions we made gave us the energy we needed going forward, so we got a goal from a very good move, individual brilliance, putting them under pressure but after that I think the concentration levels went down and we allowed them to get the second goal."
Chiefs next face a trip to Cape Town to face Cape Town City in an MTN8 clash at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 15:00.
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