Peter Shalulile scored a hatrick as Masandawana set sail on the strength of a dominant performance in both the first and second half. Within less than a minute, Cassius Mailula took his first shot at Washington Arubi after Bongani Zungu and Themba Zwane linked up in the midfield releasing a long pass to Mailula upfront.
Bafana Ba Style began to look for an opening in Gallant’s back line. Maema put the ball behind Tshepo Gumede as Shalulile made a run on it and fired past Arubi and put the Yellow Nation in the lead. Downs had their first corner after opening their scoring account, Marcelo Allende put the ball into the box, Mothobi Mvala connected with the ball in the air and headed it over the top of the posts. Gallants regained their momentum and began to put up a fight, Gumede attempted to equalize with a shot outside Downs box but the ball went into the hands of the keeper and Onyango set up an attack for his team.
Sundowns kept the pressure going forward, with their chances a bit more dangerous and promising. Mshishi had a go at goal with his shot bouncing out of the goalkeeper’s hands and falling onto Shalulile who found the back of the net. The Namibian striker was on point to score his second goal in the encounter as the game reached twenty-five minutes, making it his 12th goal in the Ke Yona Competition.
After thirty minutes into the encounter, Letsie Koapeng looked to bring a goal for Gallant’s with a free kick, but his shot went over the Yellow wall with Lebusa having a touch with his upper body leading to a corner kick awarded to Marumo. The home team took advantage of their chances and Boitumelo Pheko shortly scored from outside the box with his left foot.
With just five minutes left to play in the opening half, Zwane and Zungu brilliantly played 1-2 passes to each other and finally found Mailula who then attempted to extend the scoreline but his shot lacked power and Arubi jumped onto the ball to make a save. Gallant’s looked to find another goal through Lucky Mohomi, the attacker’s deadly shot in the box got blocked by the bodies of Sundowns men and kept the score at 2-1 going into the break.
As soon as the match returned for the second half Gallants created a chance in attack when one of their players was fouled by Lebusa, but their ball hit the wall and they were set to chase the game again. Masandawana found their rhythm and began to take command, Maema got into the 18 area and released a hot shot towards goal but his ball took deflection and went out for a corner kick
Bafana Ba Style continued to enjoy sustained possession for the most part after fifty minutes and took more shots at goal. Sifiso Ngobeni was amongst those who had taken their chance at goal, the left footer’s shot was narrowly tapped out by Arubi as the ball looked promising at goal.
Downs put pressure on the defence when Shalulile made no mistake, tapping his strike across Arubi in goal but the linesman put his flag up. The defending Champions made changes before going into the seventieth minute, Mailula and Zwane exchanged positions with Haashim Domingo and Rivaldo Coetzee.
Sundowns handed one of their youngsters Thando Buthelezi his debut in the clash, while Terrence Mashego also marked his return from a long-term injury. The proceedings resumed and Downs kept pushing for another goal, Shalulile positioned himself well to grab a hat trick from a set piece delivered in by Allende.
Gallants had their last promising chances in the dying minutes which narrowly went past the top of the posts. The home team got the ball down into Sundowns end soon in extra time, Katlego Otladisa with a long shot forcing Onyango to make a save to his right with one hand.
Maema was once again in the middle of the scoring chance before the game came to a close. Having received the pass from Thabiso Kutumela at the edge of the area, Maema released a shot that glanced off the crossbar.
Next up for Masandawana is an away date with Stellenbosch in the DStv Premiership on Sunday, March 5.
This is how we lined up:
D. Onyango ©, Morena, Ngobeni(77′ Mashego), Mvala, Lebusa, Zungu(88′ Kutumela), Allende (77′ Buthelezi), Maema, Zwane (66′ Domingo), Shalulile, Mailula (66′ Coetzee).
Subs: Pieterse, B. Onyango, Mudau, Mashego, Coetzee, Mokoena, Buthelezi, Domingo, Kutumela
We played well enough for the win…congrats to the club…I feel sad for Zungu who had a very good game…best since coming back…the injury looks really bad….but hopefully it isn’t that bad…and he looks nice and trimmed…I was one of those that criticized him for his weight. Mashego hasn’t obviously played in a while due to his injury….he gained weight….but he needs time to shed it off. All in all…we were good for our win…I won’t speak much on speculation in the media about our players…let’s wait and see
Well done to Peter Shalulile. He really had a good game and deserved to be the man of the match. Peter is capable of scoring over 30 goals per season if he really composes himself in the box like he did yesterday. He scored 4 goals, and his disallowed goal was just a shame on the linesman. The team really played well even though the pitch was not conducive to our style of play.
KaboYellow Masandawana. Welldone Boys. I notice that Sundowns have covered every day of the week in terms of playing their matches. They play on Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Other teams played on Mondays and Thursdays because they are fixtured against KaboYellow. Welldone Boys
They are the only team that at times they train at 1am. Trendsetters
Bothma my man I was also a critic of Zungu and Mbule,I hate it when we become their mouth piece advocating for their inclusion in the team but when it comes to them(players)they bring their fat tummies.Its so unfortunate for Zungu’s injuries comes in such a crucial time of year,not forgetting Nasir’s injury that came immediately after a long layoff with injury.I was hoping with such soldiers at our disposal we will conquer Africa again,but that dream is still on.An impressive victory yesterday not forgetting we were coming from a taxing game against AL Ahly and also congratulations to the technical team as well as supporters who ensure Free State was abuzz and having a great atmosphere.Congratulations to everyone associated with Sundowns.
Well played.I was very impressed with Shalulile’s calmness in the box he showed a lot of improvement in that part of the field,he should have been man of the match or Morena,also defended set pieces well,Maema lost many balls the other one nearly resulted in a goal,he should work on the aspect of his game(passing).Onyango had poor distribution.Very much happy with the performance of Lebusa he was unfortunate to get that yellow card because of Mvala’s mistake.Mvala boy when under pressure don’t to be smart just hoof the ball forward,you won lot of aerial balls.Zungu hard a flawless game.Nothing gives much pleasure than to see young players given a chance,that Buthelezi boy is so talented,can’t wait to see him,Mailula and Carelse on the pitch at the same time.I think it is time to give Pieterse a fair chance he is part of the future.Lastly credit to Rulani, since taking over our team has changed a lot,it plays without fear home and away even under pressure,even after making changes the identity is not compromised.BRAVO TO THE COACH.
Heita masandawana, I’m very happy with the results and the fact shalulile was calm this time unlike last week against Aly ahly. Onyango is the senior player but every time he plays he concede or cause penalty, zwane and maema were out maybe the are tired. the coaches were spot on their selection.