A relentless Mamelodi Sundowns have emerged the victorious side in what was a titanic tussle against Sekhukhune United after defeating them 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld. It was the heroics of Marcelo Allende and Iqraam Rayners that ensured that the Pretoria-based side walk away with maximum points.
The first attacking action of the match came very early through Teboho Mokoena from a setpiece. He took a shot from the left and was met by Jayden Adams’ glancing header which made it go wide. Masandawana’s first best chance came on the 15th minute when Khuliso Mudau found Allende in front of goal. Allende’s first touch effort, however, sailed over the bar.
The scoring opportunities kept coming for the hosts but were just not getting it right in the final third. From the other half, Mokoena made a long pass to Aubrey Modiba who was on the left flank. His attempt to cross the ball to Tashreeq Matthews was cleared away by the visitors through an acrobatic effort.
Arthur Sales came close to breaking the deadlock on the 25th minute when he struck a shot on goal but the keeper dived to the right to make a catch.
Babina Noko hed ample of scoring opportunities but the Downs defence was tight, denying the visitors a goal. They almost found a goal when they looked to slot it in on the farpost but Ronwen Williams made a full stretch to gather the ball.
Just after the half-hour mark, Masandawana finally found the opener and it came from Allende. After a beautiful rotation of the ball and a short pass from Sales, Allende fired the ball from outside the box and found the top right corner of the net.
Both sides kept Loftus Versfeld alive with the end-to-end football, looking for goals but it is the hosts that went to the interval with a goal advantage.
Bafana Ba Style looked to start the second half with good intent as Mokoena made a brave shot from range but was unlucky to miss the target by a few inches
The visitors had a teasing ball from the left where they made a cross but the effort to connect with the ball was mistimed. After many attempts to find the back of the net, the Limpopo-based side found the breakthrough on the 70th minute. The goal that levelled matters came from a header after the Downs defence struggled to clear the danger.
Eleven minutes later, the hosts responded and snatched back the lead through substitute, Rayners. Set-up by substitute and debutant Monnapule Saleng, Rayners punched the ball in to put his side back on the lead.
Babina Noko almost equalised through a header that came from a setpiece in added time but it went wide. To wrap up the proceedings, Rayners rattled the net again through a powerful strike. The ball initially meant for Saleng was intercepted but Rayners found the rebound and took matters into his own hands to conclude the match.
How we lined up: Williams ©, Mudau, Kekana, Ndamane, Modiba, Allende, Mokoena, Adams, Sales, Leon, Matthews.
Subs: Pieterse, Johannes, Basadien, Ntsabeleng, Zwane, Santos, Mothiba, Rayners, Saleng.
