Lucas Ribeiro Costa is proving to be the man Mamelodi Sundowns can bank on to find a chink in the opposition armour, but there's one part of his game that is concerning head coach Manqoba Mngqithi, who plans to address it as soon as possible.
Costa marked his return from suspension with a goal in the first half against Cape Town City at Loftus Stadium on Wednesday, as Sundowns cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Citizens in the Betway Premiership after the disappointment of losing their first match of the campaign to Polokwane City on Sunday.
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The Brazilian attacker missed the clash against Rise and Shine after picking four yellow cards and was in the referee's book again on Wednesday evening for a tackle in the first half. It was his fifth yellow card of the campaign and the season is not even halfway through.
Blessed with an incredible ability to unlock the opposition with a pass, and a brilliant eye for goal, Costa does have that one Achilles heel in his game and it's something Mngqithi and the backroom staff at Chloorkop have addressed and the coach has admitted to seeing some progress over time.
"With Lucas, it's a big concern for all of us that he somehow finds a way to get a booking, even when it was difficult for him to get a booking. The tackle he made on the line was very unnecessary. But sometimes you must know that when you are working with South Americans, they think differently and they give everything to the game, which sometimes exposes them to such cautions," Mngqithi told media after the game at Loftus, which saw them moving three points closer to leaders Orlando Pirates.
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"Yes, we are concerned and we've personally had three or four one-on-ones with him because I really want him to understand. I think he has improved in some instances because he was very emotional before, but he is really improving. It could have been easy for referees to always take him out, but I am seeing good progress, but there is still a lot of work to do. Even other members of the club are trying to help us."
By Tshepang Mailwane
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