Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena has paid tribute to the influence of Denis Onyango after his penalty heroics ended the club's 14-year MTN8 trophy drought.
Onyango saved five of the seven penalties from Cape Town City players, which set them up to win their twelfth trophy since their biggest rivals Kaizer Chiefs last lifted silverware.
Scroll through the gallery to see the top scorers from the last 10 MTN 8 campaigns
The Brazilians have now won the MTN8, five league titles, two Nedbank Cups, two Telkom KnockOut trophies, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Super Cup since Chiefs won their last piece of silverware in May 2015.
Sundowns have also taken their trophy count in the PSL era to 22 while Chiefs remain stuck on 20.
"This is a brave group of players. Good things come to those who wait, and this was worth the wait filled with a lot of drama. The good thing is that we trust our players," says Mokwena while turning on to the efforts of Onyango.
"We trust Denis Onyango and had a little bit of a chat between him and me before the penalty shootout. A couple of words were spoken between and that stays between him and me, but he is a beast. Denis always comes to the rescue of the team. There was a big save even in the first half on transition and he kept us in the game but that is why he is one the best on the African continent.
"Time and time again he pulls through for the team and we have seen him do this so many times and, in the moment, where we need him to be brave and fight for the team that is what he did. That sort of energy galvanised the rest of the group in believing and giving hope to the team and that is what we look for in our senior players because they have the quality to contribute.
"But as I said it is a collective effort. This is a very good team and in difficult moments we stay together and fight. Kudos to Denis for the well-deserved man of the match award," says Mokwena.