The Mamelodi Sundowns Diski Team locked down the bragging rights in a Tshwane derby full of quality and excitement, as they ran out a relentless 2-1 victory over the SuperSport United Reserves on Saturday afternoon at the Dobsonville Stadium.
The two sides, whose last meeting ended with a victory for Masandawana, last met in March 2024 before reigniting their rivalry on Saturday in the DStv Diski Challenge. Masandawana headed to this game with a few changes in the starting lineup, seeing the return of Thulani Zandamela, Nqobani Biyela, Khumo Mokoele and Thato Sibiya.
It was a titanic tussle in the opening minutes of the match, with the two sides playing box-to-box football. It was, however, the visitors that managed to snatch the dominance as they looked to open the proceedings with a goal. Mokoele had an opportunity to open the scoring on the left, but his shot was not powerful enough as it was met by the goalkeeper’s hands. Ntokozo Siquba also came with a curler that went past the Matsatsantsa defence, but the chance went slightly wide, denying him an opener.
The hosts did not take the threat posed by their Tshwane counterparts lightly as they forced their way into the Sundowns box. The defence worked hard to block the big chance in the area, but despite the hard work, SuperSport United broke the deadlock with a rebound in the 21st minute.
Masandawana did not give up and looked more relentless to make things right, and that didn’t take long to happen. Four minutes later, an equaliser was seen. The ball came from Siquba, who made a clinical delivery to Zandamela, going past the defence. Near the edge of the box, Zandamela slotted the ball into the net with composure.
The visitors continued with their relentlessness because, just before the break, they pulled one back to snatch the lead from the young Spartans. The ball came from a counterattack in the visitor’s box. The captain, Matlhatsi Mampane, made a pass to Zandamela, who drove the ball to the home side’s box. He then delivered the ball to Siquba on the left, who looked to break the line. Siquba then shot a beautiful cross to find Sipho Ngqakabana at the back post, who didn’t waste time as he shot straight into the net to make it two for his side.
In the second stanza, SuperSport looked more dangerous as they created threatening clear-cut chances in the box, but the Downs shot-stopper, Biyela, was hard at work to ensure that no ball went past him. The two sides dug deep for more goals, but the scoreline remained 2-1 in the end.
The result puts coach David’s charges second on the log, a position higher than they were before the meeting, with 25 points, just a point shy of the log leaders. They will look to conclude the year on a high in their last match of the year next weekend when they meet the Kaizer Chiefs Reserves.
How we lined up: Biyela, Mtyali, Mampane ©, Sithole, Sibiya, Kekana, Mokoele, Masisi, Ngqakabana, Siquba, Zandamela.
Subs: Shabangu, Booysen, Mto, Mswane, Moabelo.
