Mamelodi Sundowns’ Diski Team delivered a commanding performance on Sunday morning to defeat the Polokwane City Reserves after securing a 4-0 victory. In a game of clear-cut chances for Masandawana, two goals in each half from Siyabonga Mabena, Kabelo Sibande, Simphiwe Mlondo, and Oarabile Booysen proved to be the difference at Tuks Stadium.
Mabena lifted the roof when he pulled the strings early in the game through a shot that shattered the tongue of the net five minutes into the opening half. The goal materialised from Booysen’s brilliant pressing, which in the end paid off. He pressed the goalkeeper whose attempt at clearing the ball from danger ended in Mabena’s possession.
In the minutes that followed, the hosts looked to extend the lead very early in the game. Mabena picked out an unmarked Bennet Mokoena on the edge of the box, who quickly fired a shot, but the towering bodies of the Polokwane City defence denied him.
Rise and Shine struggled to get a real foothold in the game, with their winger carving their first chance on goal, but the effort from the left flank was quickly swept up by Sibande.
Just after the 30-minute mark, Thato Sibiya found Mokoena and supplied a beautiful pass from the left flank. Mokoena lashed his famous powerful shot from the ground but missed the target by a few inches.
In the closing stages of the opening half, Polokwane City had to play with a man down after their player was given marching orders by the referee following an unnecessary tackle on Booysen. Coach Tiro van Rooyen quickly took advantage of that when they doubled their lead a few seconds before the referee blew the halftime whistle. Sibande’s low shot that found the back of the net, supplied by Sibiya, raptured the stadium. The late goal saw the hosts heading to the break with a two-goal advantage.
The second stanza didn’t start as lively as the opening half, with the real chance coming only after the hour mark. Mabena, again, looked to record a brace when he switched on his dribbling skills. As he dribbled closer to the area, the keeper snatched the ball off his feet and cleared it away with a powerful shot.
In the 76th minute, substitute Simphwe Mlondo hit one home for his side. The goal became his first of many in the DStv Diski Challenge. In a display of resilience, Mlondo had driven the ball into the area, and just when they snatched the ball off his feet, he regained possession and wasted no time by bolting a shot the keeper couldn’t save.
Just a minute later, Booysen, who had been strongly involved in the match, sealed the game with a goal that can be deemed unexpected. While it looked impossible to do, from a tight angle on the right flank, Booysen slotted it in and made it four for his team.
Despite wanting to get more goals out of the ten-man Polokwane City side, the young Brazilians had to settle for the four goals and three points that keep them second on the log for yet another week.
How we lined up: Shabangu, Sibande, Sithole, Nkabinde, Sibiya, Masisi ©, Kekana, Moabelo, Mabena, Mokoena, Booysen.
Subs: Biyela, Seedat, Jodamus, Mlondo, Siquba.
