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.