Vilakazi has been a key figure for The Brazilians since the turn of the season, having scored two goals in his last three games across all competitions.
The 28-year-old seems to have grown into his role within Pitso Mosimane’s setup, playing the ‘false nine’ with distinction in the absence of former teammates Percy Tau and Khama Billiat.
‘Vila’ netted in his side’s all-important CAF Champions League victory over AS Togo-Port at the end of last month and, after sitting out one of their two opening Absa Premiership fixtures, scored again in their MTN8 triumph over Golden Arrows over the weekend.
The Bafana Bafana international has shown glimpses of his old self that was crowned PSL Footballer of the Season in 2014, but refuses to let the recent plaudits get to his head, as he maintains he is merely doing his job for the team.
“No, look man, I think it’s that you have to come in and you’ve just got to do the job for the team. Up to so far I think I’ve done pretty well to help the team,” Vilakazi tells snl24.com/kickoff.
“But the most important thing is that we’re getting results. It doesn’t matter who plays, we need to get the results regardless of how we get it.”
With a number of new faces in the squad, Sundowns’ well-oiled machine has functioned seamlessly thus far, and Vilakazi believes with each passing game things can still keep getting better.
“Sometimes you get it with the right combinations, sometimes you don’t get it. But at this stage it seems like we’re clicking very well, so we can take that going forward,” he adds.
“But, obviously, there’s still always room for improvement because, with playing so many games, you start to get to know one another better, and so far it’s been good.”
Downs enjoyed a midweek bye while travelling to Morocco for another crunch Champions League group stage duel with Wydad Casablanca, as they look to advance to the knockout stages of the competition for a third straight year.