Mamelodi Sundowns almost learnt the hard way that dominating the game without producing results is living dangerously when they left it too late to find the back of the net to spoil an imminent all-night Kaizer Chiefs celebratory party.
The Soweto Glamour Boys opened the scoring in the second half of the game through a 60th-minute header from Venezuelan striker Edson Castilo left Sundowns keeper and Bafana Bafana’s number one Rownwen Williams bamboozled about the direction of the header as he made no effort to catch.
Castilo’s goal came after a brilliant first half by Masandawana asking several questions on the AmaKhosi keeper Brandon Petersen while his Down counterpart was like a relaxed man at some beach in Umgababa.
AmaKhosi never tested the Downs keeper but their first attempt was made to count while the second of the only two attempts made in the entire game went begging. Brazilian’s Downs marksman Lucas Ribeiro Costa missed several scoring opportunities.
Although Masandawana were a better side in the titanic battle, lack of clinical finishing nearly cost them the game that was hugely tilted in their favour, which prompted one fellow sports scribe to remark: “If this type of play displayed by Sundowns cannot be curbed, their dominance of this league will continue for some time to come”.
Sundowns continued to make several telling runs and penetrations of the AmaKhosi danger zone throughout the game but left it too late to find the back of the net in the form of an injury-time header from Khuliso Mudau to level the score at 1-1.
Both sides still have a second leg of the cup competition to perfect their play before the resumption of the battle scheduled for the weekend of September 23 and 24 to be played at the Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium in Atteriudgeville.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers won their first away leg of the semi-final 2-1 against a stubborn Stellenbosch FC in Cape Town. The Stellies were first to register their name on the scoreboard with Ismael Toure’s header while the blossoming Zakhele Lepasa equalised for the ‘Sea Robbers’.
In a similar fashion to the Chiefs-Downs game, Pirates instead left it too late to snatch a winner through another header, this time from Deon Hotto in injury time. The Bucs seem set to mount a strong defence of their trophy.
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