Shalulile’s brace helps Sundowns ease past Celtic

Peter Shalulile’s brace diminished Bloemfontein Celtic’s chances to finish in the top eight as he helped Mamelodi Sundowns get the better of Phunya Sele Sele in the penultimate round of the DStv Premiership, beating John Maduka’s men 2-0 in their own backyard.

It did not take long for Sundowns, who long wrapped up the league, to impose their dominance over Siwelele as they applied the pressure from the onset, making Celtic players chase shadow by keeping possession of the ball and dictating play. The ever-green Shalulile scored the first of his brace in the 11th minute, and thanks to Haashim Domingo’s strike that came off the woodwork, Shalulile was able to get on the rebound to head in the opener.

The move was created by Lyle Lakay wide on the left, crossing the ball to Domingo who could not beat Celtic goalie Mondli Mpoto, rattling the crossbar and leaving it to Shalulile to pick up the pieces. Shalulile then scored his second header, this time in the second stanza just after the hour mark.

Lakay was again the instigator of the attack when he took a quick and short corner kick with Gaston Sirino and Lakay delivered a pin-point cross to Shalulile, who rose high to beat Mpoto once more with a header, scoring his 20th goal in all competitions this season.

It was as though someone was telling SuperSport striker Bradley Grobler that Shalulile is flooding in the goals in Bloemfontein and he made sure he keeps the Downs striker at bay when it comes to the chase for the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot as he too scored a brace for The Spartans.

Matsatsantsa A Pitori put up a gallant fight against Maritzburg United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, beating the Team of Choice 2-0 to bolster their hopes of improving on last season’s fifth-place finish. Kaizer Chiefs did them a favour by beating Golden Arrows, who are two points ahead of Kaitano Tembo’s men. In the scorers’ chart, Grobler currently leads the pack for the Golden Boot with 16 goals while Shalulile is hot on his heels with 14 strikes.