Sundowns rout Swallows to extend lead at the top

Pavol Safranko was the joke of the town last week and the roast was led by former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder-turned analyst, Junior Kanye, who comically described the Slovakian striker as a “farmer from Krugersdorp”, after he missed countless chances in Mamelodi Sundowns’ game against Golden Arrows.

As though Safranko was out to prove a point to Kanye and his critics, he scored a textbook header around the half-hour mark when Masandawana continued their rampant form against Swallows FC, who they beat 3-0 on Sunday evening at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Safranko’s goal was assisted by Lyle Lakay from the corner spot as he continues to raise his hand to Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, who left him out of the national team to face Ethiopia in back-to-back ties in the Fifa World Cup qualifiers.  

Sundowns’s second goal was made off the bench with substitutes Sibusiso Vilakazi and Neo Maema combining in the 78^th minute. For the second time in six days, Maema came off the bench to impress his coaches with another fine goal. For Masandawana’s third, Maema was the provider as he teed up Peter Shalulile for his fifth goal of the season.

Before the goal fest, you would be forgiven for confusing Sundowns with the Spanish giants Barcelona side that had Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets who orchestrated and perfect the tika tika – the rotation of the ball in small spaces and advancing forward. Masandawana did that so well in the latter stages of the first-half, leaving The Birds without much to bite on in their nest as Downs held on to the ball, making over 240 passes in the opening stanza.

Sundowns senior coach, Steve Komphela had his share of the spotlight when he received two yellow cards, resulting in a two-match suspension. The Downs mentor’s first booking was because he kept moving out of the technical area, and when referee Thando Ndzandzeka summoned him, Komphela supposedly refused to entertain the man-in-the-middle, who then flashed the second yellow and red card.  

The Brazilians continue to enjoy the view from the summit of the DStv Premiership log with 16 points on the board and still pride themselves with their defence that has now gone half-a-dozen of games without conceding a goal.