10-man Sundowns held to a goalless draw by Arrows

10-man Mamelodi Sundowns were to a goalless draw by Golden Arrows in a DStv Premiership match played at the Mpumalanga Stadium on Wednesday night.

Sundowns defender Musa Lebusa was given his marching orders early in the second half but his team held on for a share of the spoils.

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Abafana Bes’thende didn’t play like a side with a numerical advantage after Lebusa was sent for an early shower and continued to play on the counter looking to land a sucker punch in front of a packed crowd in Hammarsdale

The Brazilians dominated the first half but Arrows goalkeeper Ismail Watenga producegood saves to deny Thembinkosi Lorch and Lucas Ribeiro. Matias Esquivel also squandered a glorious opportunity, firing over the bar after a bit of good work from Aubrey Modiba.

Sundowns were reduced to ten men a minute into the second half after Musa Lebusa was shown a red card for a professional foul on Lungelo Nguse, who would have been through on goal.

Lorch had the first sight on goal in the third minute but his first time shot was topped by Watenga. Ribeiro was next to try his luck but the Arrows goalminder produced another one-handed save to keep his team in the game.

Esquivel found himself unmarked inside the box just after the half-hour mark but ballooned his effort over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Sundowns’ unbeaten record was under threat early in the second stanza after Lebusa was given a straight red card.

Watenga denies Downs

Watenga was at it again in the second half and this time he denied substitute Junior Mendieta from close range with 13 minutes left to play as Sundowns continued to pile on the pressure despite being a man down.

Knox Mutizwa was a constant menace to the Sundowns defence when the KwaZulu-Natal broke forward but poor decision-making let him down. Marcelo Allende failed to get past Watenga in the 87^th minute and Arrows launched an attack a minute later but Nguse saw his effort go wide when he was left with only Ronwen Williams to beat.

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Sundowns will be sweating over the injury to Ribeiro who was substituted late in the first. The league champions are still unbeaten in the league and extended their run to 25 games. They are left with five matches to end the season without a blemish.