Matthews grabs a brace as 10-man Sundowns labour past Stars

Mamelodi Sundowns have reached the last 16 round of the Nedbank Cup following a 5-2 win over minnows Sibanye Golden Stars at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night. The game was perhaps closer than it should have been after a blistering start by the Brazilians.

Stars produced an admirable second half performance against the star-studded Sundowns team that took their foot off the pedal and finished the game with 10-man after Bathusi Aubaas was sent off with 14 minutes left.

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It was all Sundowns in the first half and it came as no surprise to see them race to a 2-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes thanks to goals by Malibongwe Khoza and Tashreeq Matthews. Khoza put the home team ahead as early as the second minute with a header from a corner kick before Matthews added a second from a wonderful through pass by Kutlwano Letlhaku.

Matthews grabbed his second of the game four minutes before half time as Sundowns went into the break leading 3-0. Just when it looked Masandwana were on their way to a win by a big margin, Stars regrouped to score two quick-fire goals to get themselves back into the game.

Mojalefa Mokhatla pulled one back for the visitors in the 56^th minute with a low shot inside the box. Ronwen Williams will be disappointed with how easily he was beaten. The ball went under his clutches as the ABC Motsepe League side that is largely made out of mineworkers cut the deficit to two goals.

Substitute Boeletsang Rankali also got on the score sheet on the hour mark with an assist by man of the match Mokhatla to make it 3-2. Arthur Sales scored in the 68^th minute to restore Downs’ two-goal cushion in front of their own fans that were getting frustrated with the turn of events.

Aubaas was shown a straight red card for elbowing Rankali in an off-the-ball incident. This is a second game in a row where Sundowns fails to finish the game with 11 men. Divine Lunga was also sent for an early shower in the 2-1 win over Magesi FC last Wednesday.

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Kabamelo Kodisang closed off the scoring in injury time with a curled effort inside the box. In the end, Sundowns did enough to avoid an embarrassment in the seven-goal thriller in Tshwane. They through to the last 16 round of the competition, but their coach Miguel Cardosos will be dissatisfied with the two lapses of concentration that led to Stars’ two goals.