Mamelodi Sundowns gained a point and remained unbeaten in Group C of the CAF Champions League after drawing 2-2 with Petro de Luanda at Estadio 11 de Novembro on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams were caught off guard as severe rainfall came down fifteen minutes before kick off, leaving various parts of the pitch soaked.
The players nevertheless had to adapt and Denis Onyango produced a quick reaction save in the fifth minute as he was the first to be tested by the wet conditions.
The Brazilians had to wait thirteen minutes for their first chance of the game, Anele Ngcongca teed up Thapelo Morena who struck a powerful shot that went just wide.
Onyango showed his class again with another important contribution, as he rushed out to stop Picas Sengui who was through on goal.
Downs were awarded a penalty after twenty-one minutes as Themba Zwane’s shot struck the arm of Danilson in the Petro box. Gaston Sirino stepped up and calmly slotted home to give The Brazilians the lead.
The hosts found their equaliser with four first-half minutes remaining when Anele Ngcongca was adjudged to have handled in the box. Petro captain Ricardo Job Estevao made no mistake from the spot as he beat Onyango in goal to bring his side back into the game.
The second half saw more of the same from the first half, with both sides chasing three points. Coach Pitso Mosimane was forced to make an early change as Onyango was forced off with an injury. He was replaced by Kennedy Mweene.
Petro took the lead with twenty minutes to go, striker Jacques Tuyisenge put one past Mweene in goals after a cross from Sengui beat the Downs defence.
Coach Pitso Mosimane was forced into another change as Mosa Lebusa had to be taken off for Tebogo Langerman.
Downs threw everything forward in search of an equaliser and created a number of chances in the closing stages. The Brazilians were rewarded for their hard work as they found their equaliser in injury time with Motjeka Madisha heading home a Gaston Sirino cross to salvage a hard-earned point.
The point means Downs sit top of Group C with one group match remaining against second-place Wydad AC at Lucas Moripe Staduim.
Petro de Luanda (41’ Job, 72 Tuyisenge) 2-2 Mamelodi Sundowns (23’ Sirino, 90’+1 Madisha)
Well done boyz. A draw is a very good result away from home under the circumstances. A saw Zebras ? huffing and puffing today, a clear indication that they’re tiring. If they can tire while only competing domestically, it therefore means you deserve all the credit, whether you win the league or not.
Can someone tell our lovely coach Pitso to promote that boy Promise Mkhuma from MDC,what a winger and a good freekick taker.
Let’s stop chasing players like Modiba and others whereas We have our own good players or they will be promoted once they reach thirties. If we don’t take him now some other teams will snatch him up like they used to our previous players e.g Paseka Mako,Buhle Mkhwanazi and Jabulani Shongwe to mention just a few.
My best coach Mr Pitso please please can u give other strikers a chance, playing Villa or Maboe is causing us draw games that we are supposed to win,our strikers are back please give them a chance u will see
It was an indeed hard fought draw , the guys have learnt it the hard way, it is never easy out there and anything can happen, the secret lies on taking every chance seriously and executing it well for the good of the team. A draw is not a bad result at that level considering the team had already qualified, but playing with zest and great determination would have made life easy for Sundowns. None the less its still game on , Saturday then will be intense , a battle for the top spot, Sundowns have all the advantages but they know the monster they are faced with. Waydad is tactically disciplined ,and they know how to win a Caf match, the team that will have less mistakes on the day will be the one that will occupy the top spot. The team must just come to the party and make us happy. KBY,
Nandipa i share same sentiment Viia$ Maboe are weaskest link when ever i see are on starting xi i knew things are bad i also suspect Lebuse since he join us team conceder every game
I said it before Vila and Maboe are not effective and Maboe is worse .
I feel very sorry for those MDC boys cause our coach won’t consider them instead he will look at Supesport academy. Where is Shozi, Boikanyo, Skippers the list is endless.
Well done guys you made us pround under very difficult conditions.On Villa and Maboe these guys need to up their contribution Villa is very good but lazy to mark and has to up his performance, Maboe runs for the sake of chasing and his decision making very questionable (when to pass or when to score) guys you are very good ,but up your contributancy then you are complete players such as Sedio Mane.These are positve criticizim.
Inconsistency is the one that make good players appear ordinary, so it is better for our players to move from comfort zone and work hard, its not good for a player to be hot for one season , one game and the next game you are as good as not there. What has entered our players ?Where are the goals?There is arguably no team that can create chances like Sundowns yet we have the worst conversion rate.Other teams create few and score more, if Sundowns would convert 1 goal in every three chances very few teams would have been beaten less than 5 goals. Its high time we convert those chances to complement and cement the creativity. When l analyze the draws we had, and look at the missed chances ,you tend to run short of words. The defeats we encountered it is not justified. While we agree that in football you can not win all , the players must give their all to avoid Coach Pitso reasoning and defending them. Sometimes some players dishonor and betray the coach and technical team’s trust. Remember the technical team entrust team on the behalf of the yellow nation, our plea is that the players should take every match seriously. If some one’s attitude is not right on the day of the match let him be excused and give others a chance. Fight for the team, go an extra mile , decide quickly around the eighteen area and take responsibility, be alert for rebounds, anticipation will cause a player to know how to position himself, l have seen players who score those rebounds like never before. With Sundowns, how many times do we hit the upright? the cross bar? the goal keeper punching back? on several occasions these things happen, most of the time my players will already be holding their heads in despair instead of concentrating on the game to leave the ball on the back of the net. We still want to score classy goals, upright corner,curls and those thunder bolts balls, it may happen but most of such l have seen them missing the target, the intention would be right but the execution thereof has caused heart breaks the supporters, we do not count intentions but goals that cross the line. l can assure the players, even if you score with your knee,shin , hip or stomach its fine with us supporters, we celebrate them alike as long as its a permissible part of the body in football. Sicela ama Golie bafethu!!. As of playing good football everybody knows and agrees , lets compliment our good football with goals, it will help us not to regret at the end. Champions will always turn a clear loss into a draw , turn a clear draw into a win and defend and protect a lead or a win, that’s the right attitude for a champion. KBY
I usually do not drop many comments, but I read a few of the responses here Downs, Petro Share Points in Rollercoaster Game – Mamelodi Sundowns Website.
I do have 2 questions for you if it’s okay.
Could it be just me or do a few of these remarks look as if they are coming from brain dead visitors?
😛 And, if you are posting at additional sites, I’d like to keep up with you.
Would you post a list of the complete urls of all your social networking pages
like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?