Downs bounce back in style against Chiefs

The home side had the perfect start in front of a sold out Loftus Versfeld Stadium as Gaston Sirino swiftly made his way into the Chiefs box as early as three minutes on the clock and laid a pass onto Peter Shalulile who caused a panic in the AmaKhosis’s defense, after dealing with Shalulile’s strike, the visitors’ inaccuracy of passing to each other at the back opened the scoring lines for Downs as Sirino intercepted Siyabonga Ngezana’s backpass to goalie Bruce Bvuma, the Uruguayan international opened the scoring and netted his first goal of the new season.

Masandawana built upon a structured attacking approach, choosing the right moments to transition and battled out most of their duels in the middle of the pitch. Shalulile was mixed in the action of attack in the battle, the Namibian international received a defense splitting pass from Neo Maema and charged up towards Bvuma, but the striker was brought down in the box as the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Shalulile delivered a cracker of a shot against Bvuma and opened his scoring account for the 2022-23 Premier Soccer League.

After just fifteen minutes of opening play, Bafana Ba Style were leading the day with two goals to zero as they continued to deliver top-quality performance at both ends of the pitch. Andile Jali, who was handed his first start in the campaign was warned by the referee for bringing Siyethemba Sithebe down, but no card was issued for the Matatiele born star. The Soweto team crafted their moments in going forward to challenge the Downs defense, Cole Alexander’s hot shot at the half hour mark hit the side of Ronwen Williams net and caused minor worries for Sundowns.

The Brazilians contained the visiting team for a majority of the first half by winning personal duels across the pitch as the basis for this performance, cheered on by the crowd. Chiefs had one more chance to find a goal before half time, Khama Billiat’s pass to Yusuf Maart looked promising but nothing resulted from the attempt. Sundowns headed into the break with two goals ahead of Chiefs who could not find the back of the net thus far.

As the game returned from the break, Downs defense was called into action early in the second half with threats coming in from Reeve Frosler who missed a sitter of a goal for AmaKhosi. Maema and Themba Zwane did the job in some style with combination play to connect with Shalulile, the 28-year-old striker scored his second goal in the match to extend the advantage to 3-0.

After contesting for the ball with the visitors fighting to reach The Brazilians final third, Teboho Mokoena was called into the referee’s book after bringing Kgaogelo Sekgotha at the edge of the box. Th Zimbabwe international, Billiat stepped up to face Williams as he took the penalty shot, but the Bafana international shotstopper denied AmaKhosi twice as he made two brilliant saves.

Bafana Ba Style made changes to their lineup, Abubeker Nasir and Lyle Lakay marked their presence in the space of Sirino and Maema, followed by Sphelele Mkhulise who replaced an injured Jali. Thapelo Morena and Lesedi Kapinga were also introduced later in the clash when Modiba and Zwane made way.

Shalulile seemed to be going for his third goal when the clock hit 72 minutes, a pass from Nasir set the striker for a chance at a hatrick but the Namibian’s shot was misdirected as he came in contact with the Chiefs defence. Newly signed forward, Nasir scored the final winning goal with fifteen minutes to go before full time, the 22-year-old Ethiopian striker took a superb strike with his left foot for an exceptional start at the home of the Champions.

Williams ensured his side kept a clean sheet when he produced good saves and Masandawana sealed their second win out of their three games this season.

This is how we lined up: R. Williams, A. Modiba (79′ Morena), K Mudau, B. Onyango, R. De Reuck, T. Mokoena, A Jali ©(65′ Mkhulise), N. Maema (59′ Lakay), T. Zwane (79′ Kapinga), G. Sirino (59’Abubeker), P. Shalulile

Subs: D. Onyango, T. Moren, M. Lebusa, S. Mkhulise, L. Kapinga, A. Nasir, L. Lakay, H. Domingo, T. Kutumela