A last-gasp goal from Iqraam Rayners saw Mamelodi Sundowns snatch a victory away from home over Amazulu FC on Tuesday afternoon at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
In the early moments of the match, the visitors came close to opening the scoring through Khuliso Mudau. Still, they were unable to use the opportunity he received from Lucas Ribeiro better when the ball went over the bar.
With an almost immediate retaliation through a counterattack, Usuthu was able to drive the ball to Masandawana’s box, entering the area, but Malibongwe Khoza calmly blocked the ball.
It was a titanic tussle with the two sides playing box-to-box football despite Downs dominating possession. It didn’t take long before Kobamelo Kodisang looked to help his side open the scoring after the half-hour mark. He made a good run to the near post, but the goalkeeper tipped it away, earning them a corner. The corner shot found Rushine De Reuck, who headed the ball, which hit the bar to miss the target.
The first stanza was promising, especially for the Brazilians, but it did not afford any of the sides a lead, seeing them head to the break deadlocked at 0-0.
The first big chance in the opening minutes of the second half came from Ribeiro, who played a little dink, but his attempt was caught as the Amazulu defense headed the ball out.
Just before the hour mark, Ronwen Williams was given marching orders by the referee, following a forced substitution, introducing Denis Onyango, who replaced Aubrey Modiba.
With one man down, for a few minutes, Bafana Ba Style looked vulnerable, and the hosts took advantage of that. A mistake almost cost the visitors in the area after continuous counter–pressing by Usuthu. Fortunately, the hosts were denied a lead by the woodwork.
Moses Mabhida witnessed a lovely interplay between Rayners and Mudau, which was one of the biggest chances for Masandawana, but Rayners was unable to get it right as he shot from a tight angle.
With a free kick afforded to Downs in the 90th minute, Teboho Mokoena took the shot on the edge of the box, which was directed inside the net by Rayners’ header to finally break the deadlock.
Amazulu almost equalized in added time, but Mudau made a good recovery in the area to clear. A few more attempts followed but were not clinical enough for them to level matters. In the end, the game ended with a hard-fought 1-0 victory for the Brazilians.
How we lined up: Williams ©, Modiba, Mudau, De Reuck, Lunga, Khoza, Mokoena, Ribeiro, Kodisang, Mkhulise Rayners.
Subs: Onyango, Morena, Mashego, Maboe, Aubaas, Maema, Letlhaku, Sales, Shalulile.
It looks like we’re regressing under the new coach instead of progressing. The defensive pairing of de Reuck and Khoza is worrisome, de Reuck can’t even start the attack from the back, unlike Lebusa and Mvala. De Reuck doesn’t seem to know what to do with the ball, he’s always passing either the goalkeeper or his fellow defenders, sometimes putting them under pressure unnecessarily. Tebogo Mokoena, Khuliso Mudau and Marcello Allende need to be rested, it’s clear the 3 are tired. Unfortunately we don’t have anyone from the bench to replace them. The coach needs to venture into the market to reinforce the team and release those players who’re not contributing anything, if he’s serious about challenging Orlando Pirates this season. Pirates are a well drilled machine and it’s going to take some extra ordinary efforts to stop them this season.
Guys sometimes we tend to complain where there’s nothing to cry about,another thing we underestimate the opponents big time forgetting that we are playing with them on the same league.Playing with less players than your opponent it’s a big toll and finishing with a win is a big achievement from the boys I know our coach will reinforce and I don’t mind Bucs even if they can beat us on our league game it will not the end of our ambitions we will bounce back.
The team is playing very well,we just need to fix this thing of poor finishing.Scoring goals shouldn’t be strikers role only,all the players should do that,Mudau should have wrapped up the game for us in the first half.My main concern is our over reliance on Rayners for goals,without him we didn’t score, we need to recall Ighadaro back in January,the boy is a good finisher with both head and feet,I think he can flourish under the current technical team.Thanks to the players and technical team for a hard fought victory.I think we must increase the pace of our game against Richard’s Bay on Saturday.
I disagree with Dalom but it is his opinion!! I don’t see anything wrong with Rushine!! With him getting game he is by far a better defender that Lebusa and Mvala!! The boy has not played for a very long time and we can’t expect to be very sharp so soon. The coach has got enough players to win all the competition in which we are involved. I don’t think we need any transfers at least for now!!