Sundowns suffer shock defeat against City

Polokwane City caused a stunning upset with a 1-0 win over reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns in a Betway Premiership match played at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Bulelani Nikani scored the only goal of the match in the 82^nd minute as Sundowns suffered their first defeat of the season.

It was a well-deserved victory for the Limpopo side who played without fear and looked the hungrier of the two teams. They restricted Sundowns to zero shots on target for the entire 90 minutes.

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There wasn’t much to write home about in the first half, with both teams not giving much away. Sundowns lacked creativity in the final third and failed to create clearcut opportunities.

For City, it was going according to script as they kept Tshwane giants at bay and they would have been the happier of the two heading into the break goalless.

From a Sundowns point of view, something needed to change in the second half if they were to leave Limpopo with a positive result. Manqoba Mngqithi brought on Tebobho Mokoena and Sphelele Mkhulise in a bid to gain control of the game.

Marcelo Allende and Lebohang Maboe who were both cautioned in the opening 45 minutes made way. Mngqithi lost Siyabonga Mabena and Tashreeq Matthews to injuries shortly after the restart.

The changes had little impact as Rise and Shine looked the better the side in the second stanza. They let Sundowns off the hook by wasting numerous chances to put their noses in front.

Masandawana defended for dear life as the home team piled on the pressure looking to upset the form book. Mngqithi and his charges were lucky not to find themselves behind when City broke free from a counter attacker that ended with Hlayisi Chauke’s header missing an open net in the 65^th minute.

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Their luck ran out with eight minutes left to play with Bulelani Nikani getting on the end of a free kick by Cole Alexander. The result means that Orlando Pirates remain top of the log standing with 15 points while the Brazilians are second on 12 points following a poor showing away from home.