Mamelodi Sundowns emerged as the victorious side in what was a blockbuster of a match against Orlando Pirates. A 2-1 scoreline saw the Pretoria-based side bag three points on Wednesday night at the FNB Stadium.
While the ball was moving from box-to-box, Pirates were the first side to pose danger. Grant Kekana made a mistake as he tried to make a clearance. Pirates reacted quickly with the interception and shot directly on target. Luckily, through improvisation, Ronwen Williams made a brilliant acrobatic clearance with his right foot in the 6th minute.
Masandawana’s high press was working to their advantage as they looked to take it home, but they were not clinical in the final third. While their hosts, on the other hand, kept Williams busy. On the 13th minute, the ball came directly to Williams through a header, which he easily smacked away.
The hosts were awarded a free kick, and they managed to break the offside trap, but a major and risky challenge saved what would have been a dangerous ball inside the box.
On the 37th minute, the first goal was scored at the FNB Stadium. It was the visitors that opened the floodgtaes through Brayan Leon. Downs executed a brilliant build-up, which ended with Nuno Santos striking a long pass forward. Leon – who was ready in the area – beat the defence and struck a beautiful finish from the right.
Four minutes later, Leon doubled the advantage for his side. Again, through a well-executed passage of play, the ball ended with Aubrey Modiba, who made a brilliant pass to the area. Leon made a good run into the area to toe-poke the ball in, extending the lead, which saw them heading to the interval with a two-goal advantage.
The second half kicked off with an immediate impact from the hosts. An early goal for the Buccaneers reduced Downs’ lead. This came after an attempt rattled the crossbar. Soon after that, the second ball was won by the hosts, and through a deflection outside the box, a shot was fired, going past Williams.
Inside the hour mark, from range, Thapelo Morena struck a shot from range, but the goalkeeper smacked it away, where Downs almost found a rebound, but the hosts were quicker as they cleared the ball.
Bafana Ba Style almost extended a lead in the 69th minute. A corner kick effort connected with Khulumani Ndamane, whose head redirected the ball towards the goal. Ndamane’s effort, however, hit the woodwork.
A corner kick effort from the Pirates tested the Downs’ defence, but Williams’ concentration was high as he went off his mark to catch the ball.
The final ten minutes of the match saw end-to-end football where both sides looked to find a game-changing goal, but the match ended with a tight 2-1 scoreline in favour of the Brazilians.
How we lined up: Williams ©, Mudau, Ndamane, Kekana, Modiba, Mokoena, Adams, Santos, Morena, Leon, Matthews.
Subs: Onyango, Johannes, Lunga, Reisinho, Allende, Letlhaku, Mothiba, Shalulile.
Wow wow wow congrats to the boys, you guys played well ,you kept the structure all the time, you played the sundowns way , ball on the ground, passing game with purpose ,no javelin ,no ping pong, you kept possession to starve pirates.Leon, Adams,Modiba, Tebza, Ndamane, you were outstanding, however almost all the guys played well, guys like Moerena, Mudau, Kekana and Methews because they were marking and keeping the structure.Nuno thanks for the assist but south african football is too intense for him, the guy simple cannot mark and does not keep up with the pace of the game.Thanks to Cardoso for keeping the line up pity Sales was injured, Mshishi should have started ahead of Nuno because Mshishi attacks and defends, he runs all over the field and never loose the ball cheaply.We do not often commend Fleming ,we often lambast him for many of his foreign average signings, however he must be commeded for signing Leon, what a player and he reminds me of players like Billiat in his prime, Chukwu, Mambush, B Masinga, players who trived when passes were played on the ground into spaces.Hugo Broos made a blunder in the last AFCON by selecting young inexperienced players from pirates instead of our experienced , tried and tested players like Morena, Kekana, Adams, Raynors as a result we were knocked out early, this game must have been a lesson for him and Mkhelele, because it separated small boys from big boys.The pairing of Kekana and Ndamane looks good for Bafana.Ronza also played well today.
Seconded Ayanda and I’ve been quite all along maybe since October last year I last post my comment.
Today I will recommend one guy whom is not wanted by all including the opponents and the media Flemming Berg,thank you very much Sir for spotting that talent and recommend him to be signed by Downs I’m talking by none other than Leon,what I’ve realised not all the signings will shine to certain teams even our local boys some of them struggled at Downs and not forgetting in Europe as well,if my memory serves me well Thiery Henry struggled in Italy and shine for years at Arsenal and they’re are many,Greenwood is scoring in almost every game at Marseille but he was struggled at Man U
To the Management thanks for not listening to us when we said Flemming Berg must go that guy is going to unleash another gem for us mark my words and I wonder when Saleng is back what will happen to opponents. Kby forever
A class performance by the boys and what a master plan by Cardoso,you deserve a Bells coach not because we beat Pirates ,by the way we played the past too games.The attitude of the boys in the past too games.If we can approach all our remaining games with the same attitude and mentality our limit will only be the sky.With all due respect to Pirates,last night you could see who is playing in the champions league,all their players looked like fringe players and i then realized why Bafana didn’t go far at AFCON.Now coming to the details of the game,when we plan progressive football no team can match us,if we check both goals Ndamane had secondary assists as a central defender because of playing forward passes.In both second goals in our last two games we played more than ten passes before we scored,those goals we created they are not lucky goals.I think the technical team is doing wonders behind the scene.Adams is a special talented player,love the telepathic understanding between Mudau and Morena,their pairing confuses both the opponents and commentators including the analysts. Modida is on top of his game,Williams played like a true leader,Leon is a beast we need to protect him,i think we must bring Rayners to his level to assist him.Mokoena must up his game and Kekana must learn to clear the ball when under pressure.I was angry when we conceded that soft goal because Williams had it covered.The movement of our boys confused Pirates,i did not see Appolis,Mofokeng,Makhaula,Nemutanjane,Sebelebele,Seema it was they were playing with their role models,i felt sorry for Sibisi he was always confused it was like he was playing left back.To the boys and technical team,the season is not yet over,there is still a long way to go.
Bafwe2…..yaz …I can’t wait to read your thoughts…….come I’m listening Muzi,Mnfana,Downs4ever,Skhumba,Ayanda……chazan!!!!