Mamelodi Sundowns secured a precious 2-0 win against Chippa United on home ground on Monday evening as they returned to league action. Masandawana are back to their winning ways in the DStv Premiership after an intense opening period with the Chilli Boys applying pressure on the Tshwane giants’ defense.
Arguably two of the most attack-minded teams in the division met on the night, and it seemed like the visitors were ready to cause an upset with their early attempts at goal and aggressive play of style. Chippa led a counter attack in the opening stage of the evening’s encounter, Bienvenu Eva Nga’s attempt at an opener sent warning signals to the home team and The Brazilians shortly responded with a long ball forward.
After a fierce start to the match, the pace between the two teams soon slowed down as both sides struggled to create any clear-cut chances. It took until the last minutes of the first half for Bafana Ba Style to open the scoring, Andile Jali broke the deadlock before heading into the break, finishing smartly after he, and Themba Zwane combined well to open up the space. The goal was ultimately awarded as an goal by Chippa’s Sandile Mthethwa.
The Brazilians first effort of the second half looked to be on target, but Zwane was brought down before the attacker could take his final shot at United’s goalkeeper Rashid Watenga. Rivaldo Coetzee was amongst the troops to take chances at goal, after doing so well to work his way into a shooting position in the box, his efforts went off target.
Downs patiently moved the ball outside the area, drawing Chippa out of position, Gaston Sirino was presented with an opportunity to extend the lead after connecting well with the ball shortly after coming on the field but Watenga denied the goalscoring opportunity. Shalulile raced in on goal to finish off the ball that had been pushed out by United’s goalie after Sirino’s attempt, but no luck for the Namibian international as Watenga could not be beaten. The consistency in attack seemed to spark the Champions into action at least, but the Chilli Boys proved to be no pushovers. Mweene was forced to make a crucial save as Eva Nga went close for goal in a counter attack.
Masandawana had fleeting moments of promise and we’re denied good chances while there was one goal separating the two sides, however their dominating style of play only grew as the game progressed.
After carving out opportunities in attack, Bafana Ba Style Soon doubled up the advantage when Teboho Mokoena met Modiba’s pass and ended Chippa’s hopes of an upset in what was an open, entertaining encounter in the Premier Soccer League. Mokoena opened his scoring account with Masandawana on his first match of the DStv Premiership.
Left back Aubrey Modiba was awarded the Man of the Match award for his performance on the night. Up next The Brazilians will gear up for CAF Champions League action as they prepare to take on Sudanese outfit Al Hilal Omdurman.
This is how we lined up:
Mweene, R. Coetzee, L. Lakay, B. Onyango, R. De Reuck, A. Jali © (68′ Mokoena), T. Morena (84′ Mudau), B. Ralani (68′ Sirino), T. Kutumela (68′ Motupa), T. Zwane (87′ Mvala), P. Shalulile
Pieterse, M. Mvala, G. Sirino, K. Mudau, H. Domingo, L. Kapinga, T. Mokoena, S. Vilakazi, P.Safranko
Awful performance by the team… I couldn’t believe what i saw. Chippa in fact were better than us with a red card nogal. Players turn away from the opposition goal… Why? You can’t be afraid of losing possession when you in front of goal. I understand it if you in the middle of the park. The point is to score and not possession when close to the 18 yards. There were some bright lights though, Modiba played played well… Ralani was good too.
Very poor performance,i think the technical team need to do something,we were always rushing things in front of goals.Some players are on comfort zone,we should create a healthy competition in the team.Players like Kapinga need to be given a chance he is composed in front of goals unlike Kutumela who is always in a rush,remember the goal Kapinga scored against Marumo Gallant,if it was someone he would have rushed and blast the opponents or team mate,the boy has matured. AJ’s passing is deteriorating each game and he also plays friendship game,he always passes Zwane and Cotzee even when Modiba and Morena were free wide.We won against Richards’Bay because we used our wing backs effectively.We struggled against ten men Chippa because we wanted to penetrate them in the meddle where they are very compact with AJ as the chief culprit in terms of passing through the middle. The elephant in the room is the pairing of De Reuck and Onyango,whenever ball passes De Reuck you know very well that keeper is going to be worked.Technical shouldn’t be afraid to try new thing,try central pairing of De Reuck and Mudau and put Morena as right back in that we will have two pacey defenders or play Cotzee with De Reuck and Mudau on the right that way will have a water tight defends,and pair Mokoena with AJ.If we continue playing Mandela in champions league our journey is going to end at group stage.
I agree with comments guys! That Mandela guy looks very unsettled! I understand Kekana and Lebusa are injured! The best move is to bring back Revaldo to the defence to partner Rashine! Im not convinced with the defensive capabilities of Mandela! The Teboho Mokoena can be given a starting berth in the team to partner AJ or any other midfielder! We are not in short of numbers in the central midfield positions! Surprisingly it seems, since the departure of Nascimento, we short shot of personnel in the central defence! Not a good game from Kutumela at all! He played so badly yesterday! Even Zwane was keeping possession unnecessarily instead of quick passing to other players who were in space! Overall the team played badly! I hope to see an improved performance in the next games! Otherwise with such performances displayed yesterday, we can struggle in the champions league!