A brace from Thembinkosi Lorch has earned Mamelodi Sundowns a victory at home and helped them to cruise to the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals after defeating Maritzburg United 2-0 on Sunday evening at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The Pietermaritzburg-based side did not plan on making things easy for Coach Rulani’s outfit. They posed a lot of threat in the attack and their defence squad was also not giving Downs a chance to see an opener. The first real chance came from Coach Simo Dladla’s men in the early minutes of the match. It was a dangerous strike by Andiswa Sithole but it went wide.
A chance from Downs came through Gaston Sirino whose curling effort was blocked by the visiting goalkeeper. The match was forced into a halt on the 15th minute due to inclement weather conditions. The restart of the match kicked off with a fierce strike from Bathusi Aubaas that went over the crossbar. Masandawana kept looking for goal but went to the halftime break deadlocked at 0-0.
A goal to draw first blood was being searched high and low by both sides in the second stanza. Lebohang Maboe came with the first chance in the second half, which came from Khuliso Mudau but the attempt was blocked by the Maritzburg defender when he took one on the stomach.
A goal finally came from Lorch on the 74th minute. The assist came from Bongani Zungu who executed a beautiful pass to Lorch. Lorch then thundered the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring for his side. The Brazilians held on to the lead while still looking for a lead extension. The second goal to extend their lead against the resilient Team of Choice came during added time through Lorch to make it two. The ball came pouncing from debutant Kutlwano Letlhaku and Lorch footed the ball way past the goalkeeper to seal the victory for side.
The Brazilians secured the final spot in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals line-up and will learn of their opponent when the draw is conducted on Monday evening.
How we lined up: D. Onyango ©, Mudau, Lunga, Lebusa, Zungu, Aubaas, Maboe, Allende, Esquivel, Lorch, Sirino.
Subs: Pieterse, Mvala, Coetzee, Mashego, Mkhulise, Mbule, Letlhaku, Morena, Shalulile.
Congrats Madandawana, welcome Nyoso.I must also say we have a gem in that young boy Kutlwano and also Methews the future is bright and they are ready to feature full time given a chance.