Five-in-a-row! Sundowns seal another Premiership title

Joy was restored to the Mamelodi Sundowns camp on Wednesday, as they were confirmed as DStv Premiership champions for a fifth successive season.

Four days ago, Masandawana fans were wiping away the after an embarrassing exit in the Caf Champions League at the hands of Petro Atletico. That will still hurt in the corridors of Choorklop, but there can be no doubting the domestic dominance of the Tshwane giants. This was Sundowns’ 12^th league title in the Premier Soccer League era.

It wasn’t the most watchable affair at Loftus Versfeld as Sundowns were held to a goalless draw by Cape Town City. But they only needed a point to make sure that second-placed Royal AM cannot catch them mathematically. Sundowns sit on 58 points while the KwaZulu-Natal side can only reach 57 points.

The first real chance of the game came in the fourth minute when Neo Maema attempted to beat goalkeeper Hugo Marques but his shot was dealt with by the City goalkeeper, who palmed the ball to safety. 

The match was a cagey one, especially in the first stanza where the chances were few and far in between. Eric Tinkler’s side did not make many threats at Denis Onyango’s goal as their defenders had their work cut out, absorbing pressure from Downs’ creative force of Themba Zwane, Neo Maema and Surprise Ralani.

The start to the second half was not too different to the first as Masandawana got the first opportunity of the half. It was Aubrey Modiba who lined-up a shot from range after dribbling past his markers to fire at Marques. From the moment the ball left Modiba’s boot, it looked goal-bound but Marques affected a slight, but important touch to make sure that Modiba’s attempt went over he bar.

Frustrated Sundowns fans, who had to see their side running into a City defensive brick wall countless times, began to apply some pressure on their marksman Peter Shalulile. The Namibian striker has 21 league goals to his name, left with four strikes to equal the 17-year-old 25-goal record set by Collins Mbesuma back in the Kaizer Chiefs glory days. Downs fans chanted, “we want 25 goals”. They will have to wait a little longer to see if Shalulile can reach that mark. But the title is already sewn up.