Critics hit out at Marumo Gallants midfielder Msindisi Kunene for his costly error against Mamelodi Sundowns but his coach stands with the player

Critics are gunning for Marumo Gallants’ Msindisi Kunene.

The midfielder is facing heavy criticism due to his fault gifting Mamelodi Sundowns a goal in their 3-1 loss to the defending Betway Premiership champions on Tuesday night at Loftus Versveld.

Kunene had an option to pass the ball to his team-mate but opted to play for the gallery in trying to embarrass a Sundowns player.

But that ended with dispossession and Sundowns scoring through Teboho Mokoena.

It was a costly error for the team that is third from the bottom of the PSL standings but Gallants coach, Matome Mathiane, described it as a game of mistakes.

“It’s a game of mistakes – so as a coach, you have to take it [on the chin] but you need to talk to players, be strict on them – about such mistakes, you make a mistake, they take the ball and score against us and we were on a counter, going to attack them,” he said.

“So we made this mistake, they punished us and now we just go to the drawing board and support the boy. It’s football, if you make mistakes they punish you, so we need to work on this.”

Gallants face two week break from the PSL as they are back in action in two weeks time as PSL heads into the Fifa International break.