Mamelodi Sundowns’ quest to retain the Absa Premiership title suffered a blow on Wednesday night following a 2-0 defeat to their Tshwane rivals SuperSport United at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
It was Downs’ first loss to the Pretoria rivals in six years, finally breaking the hoodoo as Matsatsantsa scored a goal in either half to take all three points.
SuperSport took the lead on the half hour mark through a Grant Kekana header, beating goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene. The defender connected with a timely corner kick from Aubrey Modiba as he shuffled past a number of bodies in the box to give Matsatsantsa the lead.
Mweene had been called in to replace the injured Denis Onyango, with coach Pitso Mosimane confirming before the match that the Ugandan shot-stopper was one of the casualties in Sundowns’ away draw to Al Ahly in the quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League at the weekend in Alexandria, a tie the Brazilians clinched 5-1 on aggregate to progress to the last four.
Downs will meet Wydad Casablanca next Friday in Morocco as they edge ever close to a second final in three years. But the ‘The Brazilians have to quickly recover from the title blow suffered at the hands of SuperSport this week. The decisive goal game in 79th minute when substitute Ghampani Lungu increased the tally to put the game beyond their reach.
Sundowns failed to completely clear the ball out of the danger zone and striker Bradley Grobler picked up a lose ball to set up his teammate, and the Zambian talisman did not miss the target.
The home side did try to stage a come back, but the heavy legs – and several injuries to key players as confirmed by the coach – made it difficult.
Joining Onyango on the injury list was Lebohang Maboe (tonsils), Oupa Manyisa (knee) and Anthony Laffor (knee surgery). Gaston Sirino, despite still being suspended is also still nursing an injury he picked up in the first leg against Al Ahly two weeks ago in the 5-0 victory.
The defeat pushed Sundowns down to third place on the log standings and six points behind leaders Orlando Pirates, though the Buccaneers have played two games more. Sundowns will have a chance to bounce back almost immediately when they travel to Polokwane to face Baroka FC on Saturday at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. Three days later Mosimane’s men will then be back at Loftus Versfeld Stadium to host Chippa United as they attempt to close the gap at the top, chasing a record ninth title. Soon thereafter they will turn their attention to Wydad in the semi-finals of the Champions League, with the away leg first played in Rabat, Morocco before the return leg at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on May 3.
Once i saw the lineup with Kennedy Mwene in the post, i knew that we are going to loose the game. I do not why Pitso still trust this man together with other goalkeeper from Supersport, they are old and not Sundowns materials. Sundowns have a very good goalkeeper in the name of Ngobeni, who can easily replace Denis, but Pitso does not see it, we will regret him when other teams will buy him, remember how he performed in Free State Stars last season. Secondly, the comments Pitso made about the Psl title last night that Pirates can take it is very bad. It seems that he is doing it on purpose by lining up a weak team so that Pirates win it, maybe he has a deal with Irvin Khoza, we are not going to accept it. Same thing with the other local cups like Mtn cup, Telkoms cup and nedbank cups, he likes to neglect them, giving the reason of focusing on the champion league. Our club needs all these cups, and there is no guarantee that we are going to win this champion league. He also likes to buy dead players from Pirates who are bringing nothing to the team. Recently He bought Gabuza, who is a finished players, but he still want him in Sundowns. Sundowns management is giving Pitso too much much respect, it must start monitoring him, maybe he is a spy of other clubs such Pirates in Sundowns. Look how he likes to praise Irvin Khoza in detriment of Patrice Motsepe, his President , who pay him high salaries more than all the Psl coachs.
That defeat affects us all but we can not be too personal about it, we are feeling the pain of the loss but to begin to insight fights over a loss to a better team on the day will not be fair at all. Supporters will surprise you some time, when some players are played they complain, when others are not played we also complain, the truth is all these players are at work, they must fight for the club, we do not have a weak team or weak players in the Sundowns team, all the players who lost are stars who can win any game on their lucky day, the weakest player at sundowns goes to another team and play all games. We must also accept defeat as supporters, its part of the game, since 2013 we have been winning against SS United, but the record had to be broken, it is true the players are still tired but they have to play, you can not change the whole team. Also another point of correction, that Gabuza story was a Fools day fluke, its not true, its just making you angry for nothing. Peace to you on that. Lets support the team, some statements said post matches must not carry us away, coaches would be emotional, also remember these are mind games, can you believe Pitso can just let the League go? How do you compete in the Caf without winning the League?KBY
Honestly speaking, i was very much disappointed by the line-up as well. Why do we keep on using Lakay? Yesterday the boy was completely lost. He played on the right, this means he was suppose to cut inside and shoot. I don’t remember him doing anything. Phakamani, the less said about him, the better. One flfluke goal of him made him an overnight Hero, but when you look at it, it was Morena who worked hard for that ball, Mahlambi just directed it into net. Tade was also lost, poor decision-making. Why do we have to have so many defenders on the bench? Oh! by the way, why are we still using Arendse, do we want him to be totally exposed before we see that he is freeway, i mean the old cannot even pass the ball, it is like he uses both legs to stand.
Anyway, all is not lost we can still bounce back if the Coach makes the right decisions and the Players too.
Bango, i do understand you, but we are in the crucial moment of the league, as coach you cannot line-up a weak team in thismoment, we have to catch up Pirates who are in advance compare to us, and remember there is a problem of points that psl has to dock from us. And what wrong with Ngobeni, the goalkeeper, do you think that the two mentioned weak goalkeepers are better than him? Pitso must stop favoritism. Also, our central defenders, Ricardo and Arendse, although they have experience, they are old and slow, psl players know their weaknesses in terms of pace. Why not to use the two former players of Ajax, who are quick and strong? Regarding the post-match interview, Pitso must learn how to speak about the club in the media, Sundowns is bigger than him, he must not talk rubbish in the media about our beloved team, we want to win Psl title. I stand for what i said, Pitso is on the mission to destroy Sundowns in favour of Pirates, he will be happy if Pirates win this league believe me.
Stay positive member, every team gets a different game plan, that one did not work and we lost, its part of the game. Winning is nice and losing is very painful, do not think the disappointment will end with us, while you are determined to achieve something, it sometimes does not happen, we can not blame now, now we can go and make those noises and finish all our energies cheering the boys. Look now, any team playing against Sundowns will be having support from even other teams, its a race, a marathon race, we have been on those points for so long a time, that’s soccer, that can happen to any team, lets not lose hope soldiers, the power of the 12th man is upon us, we are now the difference between these Cups, its upon us to accept quickly what we can not change and focus more on what can bring us change.There is no future in the past, we as a team have learnt how to do it right next time.
Let wait an see, but i know what i am saying.
Passy , we still have the League to grab with a surprising margin, lets stay positive member, anything can happen in soccer. Losing yesterday was a wake up call, Pitso does not like losing, he is such an emotional coach, that lost was a stab in his heart, there is no how Pitso can favor Pirates, those are just emotions, to say let the League go to the right team is very diplomatic, for pirates to be leading today with 6points does not mean there are the right team, they will possibly be the right team on the last day if they happen to win it. But this league is very tough, l also understand your emotions, you do not like a defeat, but its one of those things in soccer, a losing team must go home peacefully and the fans must not protest or riot for any loss, even fighting Coaches is more confusing ,blaming players is killing them even at this point in time.
Thanks Bango, as i said i believe and trust yours words, let just wait and see what will happen at the end of the season including the caf champion league, God bless.
I see a come back here we will win the league no matter what ?
I REMEMBER ONE TIME CAROL MANANA ASKED PITSO WHY HE KEEPS SPHELELE MKHULISE ON THE BENCH HIS ANSWER WAS I DON’T KNOW SOMETIMES I ASK MYSELF WHY, THAT QUESTION STILL STAND EVEN NOW PLS MAN LETS HAVE MKHULISE, MNGOMA, MEZZA , LEBUSA, MALATJILA THEY’RE BETTER THAN PITSO’S TRUSTED, LASTLY DUE TO WHAT HE SAID YSTDY I SEE US FINISHING THE SEASON EMPTY HANDED ON CAF IT WILL BE SO NEAR YET SO FAR WITH THIS ONE MAN SHOW (PITSO )
Hard luck to the ever hardworking technical team and the yellow foot soldiers, we tried very hard but it was not our day, The team was rotated but we could not get the positive results, we always encouraged the technical team to rotate the players and it was done and we lost, let us not look for other excuse to start pointing fingers at the coach, Barcelona rested most players in the Huesca game and drew and they went on to beat Man UTD convincingly in the UEFA.@Sassy member i remember very well when the coach mentioned it that we must not be greedy otherwise we will chase every cup and not win it. we are currently playing a tight schedule to accommodate the league and Caf, the question is what could have happened if we were still playing in the nedbank cup? the coach mentioned it and many supporters were not happy but that is the reality. I WILL SAY TO THE TECHNICAL TEAM “CHASE CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE” we are playing Wydad away on Friday and we must play Chippa on Tuesday. you travel on Wednesday and reach Morocco on Thursday and you play on Friday. I suggest Pitso play the full A team on Saturday and change the whole team for Chippa.
I remember well when we played Polokwane City after we came from Egypt to win the CL FINAL.We were so weak&dejected.We won by 2-0 on that day but it was not a great day 4 us we couldnt make 5 passes but ended on the winning side.My point is travelling 2 far North Africa&come again 2 the southermost part of the continent 2 play a psl fixture has its own challenges.It was expected that we cant win all the games inhand.Playing in humid&warm conditions&considering playing on high altitudes&different atmospheres is another issue 4 players.But insinuating that Pitso can colaborate with Pirates or Khoza so that we can surrender the championship to them is unfounded&baseless.Ive seen that guy how angry,hurt&teary everytime we lose a big game especialy against Chiefs or Pirates.Yes I hate that Mkhulise,Mohomi&Ngobeni as well as Meza have never bn on the starting lineup throughout the season but Pitso hates Khoza&losing to Pirates 2 the core.Sometimes we 4get that Sundowns has never gone 2 the offseason since forever,no club has ever done that,it doesnt even happen to big clubs like Madrid.But the reality is except Maboe,the younger players have not bn given enough chance,and the over reliance 2 the tried&tested by the technical team has its own consequences now.Maybe being position 3 will do us a world of goodness so that mayb we do not participate in Africa so that we can revive&recharge our batteries for the new season&start challenging for honours in local competitions,but I doubt that theres a period where we will not b participating in Africa.Lakay is a great player even if he is playing at leftback position but it goes back 2 the issue of jetlag&long travelling,when it comes to results that r negative.Kaboyelo I remain
Let me wish the yellow nation the best of luck today, Up to so far thank you very much boys. you re-wrote histories of playing in the CAF champions league and still challenge for the league, I saw teams fighting relegation after participating in the CAF leagues and we are here giving PSL teams a big fight, They are even planning to use anterior motives to derail us. i would sincerely like to thank the boys, Technical team, The Medical team, the beautiful supporters of the Yellow Nation in their quest for the challenge on both league and the CAF Champions league. Baroka here we come ons is kom.Ka bo yellow
Yet another day to correct things for Mamelodi Sundowns, its not gonna be easy but we must fight. All the Best to the Yellow nation, today we may come out with a good result, lets not give up on something that we have fought so hard the whole season. The players must renew their strengths, focus again, we are closer home than we begun. KbY
The players that will take to the field this afternoon must ensure maximum points, tht being said it won’t be easy, whatever they do they msnt make us conclude tht it’s impossible to win without Morena, Sirino and Maboe
Thank you boys a very good game hard luck to Kennedy on that mistake, We created more chances against Baroka but lady luck was not with us, I wish for a speedy recovery for all the players including Anthony Laffor this is his time and moment. just one game before the big one. soldier on boy one game at a time. In this team and technical team i believe. Let us paint Atteridgeville stadium Yellow on Tuesday. Ka bo Yellow Masandawana.
We are grateful for the three points, congratulations!, Alluta continua ! We must fight like a wounded Buffalo, We must collect as much points as we can, When Capetown knocked us out of the MTN Cup they went on to lift the Cup, we have got no problem with a team that does that, Baroka knocked us out on Telkom and they went all the way to grab their first cup which is good, then Chippa United knocked us out of the Ned Bank and we thought it would follow, any team that knocks out Sundowns must take the cup if not why just stand on our way?, this team must be taught a lesson to night, they just like disturbing us, they just must pay . All the best to the Yellow Nation. KBY
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