Sundowns return to the summit after taking down Royal AM

Mamelodi Sundowns are back on top of the Betway Premiership thanks to a 2-1 win over Royal AM at Loftus Versveld on Wednesday night.

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Khuliso Mudau secured the result for the Brazilians late in the game after Sphelele Mkhulise had given Sundowns the lead in the first half. 

Sbangani Zulu scored what proved to be a consolation goal for the KwaZulu-Natal side in what was an entertaining game in Tshwane. 

Sundowns move back to the top

The Brazilians bagged all three points as they made it four league wins in as many matches to move level on 12 points with Orlando Pirates – they top of the standings on goal difference. The Buccaneers went top for 24 hours following a 2-0 victory at home to SuperSport United on Tuesday.

As expected, Sundowns dominated proceedings from the onset but Royal AM put up a brave fight to restrict them to only two goals. It didn’t take long for Sundowns to take the lead with Mkhulise winning the ball from their pressing trap to score the opener in the 5th minute. Royal AM were perhaps naïve in trying to play from the back against an aggressive Sundowns team that always look to win possession high up the pitch.

Sundowns’ slender lead

John Maduka’s charges did regroup after conceding the early goal and managed to keep the reigning champions at bay for the better part of the game. Sundowns went into the break with the slender 1-0 lead despite dominating the ball possession stakes.

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Thwihli Thwahla did have a brilliant chance to pull one back before half time but Motebang Sera failed to make use of rare opportunity when he went one-on-one with Ronwen Williams. 

Although Sundowns enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, the game would have been too close for comfort for their coach Manqoba Mngqithi. Just when it looked like Mudau had wrapped up the game with two minutes left to play, Zulu pulled one back but it was too little too late as the defending champions held on for victory.