Oupa Manyisa shrugged off jeers from Orlando Pirates fans on what he described as an emotional night as he returned to face his old club in his new colours of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Manyisa was employed in a three-man midfield with Tiyani Mabunda and Hlompho Kekana as Sundowns scored early and then held out to beat the Buccaneers 3-1 at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.
“It was too emotional but I had to do what I had to do‚” said Manyisa at the final whistle.
“It’s part of my job‚ I have to play football.
“I just told myself that I had to come here‚ play my football and help the team to get the result.”
Manyisa‚ who had been itching for several seasons to leave Pirates for Sundowns‚ was jeered by sectors of the home support briefly during the game when he touched the ball.
But he preferred to rather talk about the significant of Sundowns fans‚ who travelled to Soweto to back their team and who were also lauded afterwards by coach Pitso Mosimane.
“They gave us a morale boost and confidence to keep on pushing‚ pushing because Pirates were coming at us.
"We stood tall and then we managed to get another goal at the end (of the game)‚” Manyisa added.
Manyisa’s own performance was overshadowed by that of Kekana‚ who scored two audacious goals to get the Brazilians on their way to a turn-around victory‚ and Mabunda‚ whose tigerish tackling won possession on a regular basis in the midfield scrimmages.
But the 29-year-old Manyisa was pleased with his showing even if he did not get to have a crack on goal in a bid to score against his old club‚ where he spent eight seasons‚ won two league titles and played in an African Champions League final.
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