The silky Mamelodi Sundowns’ yellow machine came from behind to beat a determined Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 and thereby edged closer and closer to annexing the Absa Premiership title.
As said in the preview of the match, there was no walk in the park for both title-chasing teams, Downs and Bidvest Wits, the latter being held to a 1-1 all draw by Chippa United in another exciting encounter.
Following this win against Amakhosi and a draw for the Clever Boys, the Brazilians have opened a six-point lead at the summit of Absa Premiership, making it a mountain to climb for the title contenders, Wits who have 56 points to a tally of 62 for Sundowns with only three games left.
Although they have been struggling this season, the defending champions Amakhosi opened the scoring with a Lorenzo Gordinho suspect hand ball diving header that has been dubbed ‘the hand of God’ following a controversial comment from Diego Maradona a few years ago when an Argentinian player did the same.
Despite fierce protests from the Downs players, the referee gave the goal but that only served to inspire the yellow machine which capitalised from Chiefs’ failure to convert its ball possession dominance to goals.
At the stroke of half time, an unmarked Colombian international striker Leonardo Castro had a free header inside the box from a Khama Billiat free kick following a foul on Keagan Dolly, and the Amakhosi keeper Itumeleng Khune never saw the ball as it rattled the back of the net.
This goal came 10 minutes later to the controversial goal, leveling the matters as the teams went into the half time break. Soon after resumption of the second stanza, controversial goal scorer, Gordinho, who was already carrying a yellow, was given marching orders to go and take an early shower for a second bookable offence.
It was not long after this that Downs were awarded a penalty which Thabo Nthethe neatly converted. Chiefs could have easily been reduced to nine men had the referee not been lenient to their hard man in defence turned goal scorer, Willard Katsande.
The referee had all the intentions of sending Katsande as well for an early shower but was mobbed by furious Chiefs’ players and appeared to change his mind. Katsande already had a yellow card but the foul he committed warranted even an automatic red.
As if to add salt to a wound, Katsande’s clumsy foul led to a free kick on the edge of the Chiefs box and in an attempt to clear the ball, the same Katsande powered the ball into his own net.
I am sure at that moment, the Chiefs players were cursing themselves for intervening in what was surely an early shower for Katsande. Had he walked off the pitch, who knows, maybe that goal coming as late as in the 79th minute would not have materialised.
This sealed the win for the Brazilians whose next match is against relegation threatened University of Pretoria before going on the African sojourn in a Confederations Cup tie against a Ghanaian side, and before returning to finish-off the season with Platinum Stars and Wits clashes.
