Affonso the hero for Sundowns as Chiefs coach takes notes from stands

Maurico Affonso came off the bench to score an all-important goal that saw Mamelodi Sundowns escape a draw by the skin of their teeth against Highlands Park at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday night, beating the Lions of the North 1-0.

Affonso, who came on for Lebogang Maboe, made an immediate impact on the match when he forced Highlands goalkeeper Thela Ngobeni to come racing off his line and managed to take the ball off the Uruguayan striker’s feet.

However, the danger was not averted because the ball landed on the path of Hlompho Kekana, and with Ngobeni still off the line, it seemed as though a goal was in the reckoning for Sundowns but the ball seemingly fell on the wrong feet and Kekana was dispossessed in the end.

It was in in the last minute that the Uruguayan striker showed his worth when he bolted a strike from outside the box to score his second goal in as many games for the Brazilians as Sundowns narrowed Kaizer Chiefs’ lead at the top of the Absa Premiership standings to two points, setting up a crunching renewal to their rivalry that resumes this Sunday at Loftus Versfeld.

Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp remained a very attentive figure when he witnessed Sundowns almost held to a goalless draw by Highlands at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday night.

The German mentor sat on the stands and constantly jotted notes while he was wearing an earpiece in the first half, which he abandoned in the second stanza – though it was not clear what the earpiece was for, the suspicion is that he was listening to love commentary.

Before Affonso’s goal, the defending champions were given a hard time by Owen Da Gama’s Lions of the North and much to the delight of Middendorp.

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