A 2-0 triumph against ABC Motsepe League side, Mpheni Home Defenders, on Sunday afternoon at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, has seen Mamelodi Sundowns through to the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup. It was goals from TashreeqMatthews and Bathusi Aubaas that helped Masandawana advance to the next round of the cup competition.
The hosts had an early opportunity to take a lead through Matthews but were not fruitful with the shot that was caught by the goalkeeper. A minute later, Arthur Sales, who was left facing the goalkeeper, missed his chance as it went wide on the mark.
It, however, did not take long before Matthews broke the deadlock eight minutes into the proceedings. The ball started from a beautiful counter-pressing opportunity by Aubaas who delivered it to Kobamelo Kodisang. Kodisang dribbled his way through to find Sales who squeezed himself past two defenders. He made a beautiful pass to set up Matthews who made a cheeky backheel finish to open the scoring.
19 minutes later, Aubaas drilled in the ball through a beautiful setup from MosaLebusa inside the area. The goal became his first in Brazilian colors.
The visitors had a few opportunities in front of the goal and applied a bit of pressure that caused Masandawana to make a few mistakes. To close off the first half, the Home Defenders came close to finding the back of the net. Aubaas’ pass to goalkeeper, Denis Onyango, was intercepted inside the area and the shot taken hit the crossbar, denying the Limpopo side who headed to the interval two goals down.
A few minutes into the second half, marching orders were given to Matthews after picking up a second yellow card. The Home Defenders looked more dominant from that moment, having a few moments that could have seen them score goals but the Masandawana backline denied them.
The visitors did not park the bus as they gave the defenders and Denis Onyango a hard time in their half. They were creating scoring opportunities as much as they had to make saves to deny the Brazilians any chance to extend their lead. Despite the tug of war between the two sides in the second stanza, the scoreline remained the same, seeing Bafana Ba Style earning another victory at home.
How we lined up: Onyango ©, Aubaas, Lebusa, Khoza, Tiwani, Mkhulise, Esquivel, Kodisang, Mashego, Sales, Matthews.
Subs: Pieterse, Cupido, Johannes, Mokoena, Adamas, Ribeiro, Letlhaku, Maseko, Shalulile.
