Mamelodi Sundowns continued to toy with Kaizer Chiefs, completing a first double over Amakhosi in league encounters in a 2022-2023 campaign that is proving to be a huge nightmare for the Soweto giants.
The win saw Sundowns breaking their own 2007 record of 11 successive league wins in the PSL era, with this one the 12th, stretching their lead on top of the DStv Premiership to 17 points after 18 matches.
Neo Maema scored the winning goal for the Brazilians in the 20th minute, finishing a move that involved a number of Sundowns players down the right flank in which the young Chiefs midfielder Samkelo Zwane and left-back Sifiso Hlanti had their hands full.
Maema’s goal came after Sundowns had already missed a couple of sitters in a game in which their attacking maestro Themba Zwane orchestrated most of the visitors’ moves going forward.
But Chiefs had a couple of chances of their own, even if they were not on target and didn’t succeed because they were not playing coherent football. Sundowns made a lot mistakes in their own half where they were trying to build all their moves through birthday boy and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane recognised that (Samkelo) Zwane was perhaps the weakest link in their midfield and replaced him with the experienced Siyethemba Sithebe at the start of the second half. Chiefs fans showed their dismay over top scorer Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana whose first touches were woeful.
Sundowns maintained their dominance despite clear chances created in the second period and they were unlucky not to double their lead when striker Cassius Mailula sliced through the Chiefs defence but shot wide after benefitting from yet another Zwane pass.
The Brazilians beat Chiefs 4-0 in the corresponding fixture in August and the 1-0 score-line in this tie was mainly down to Rulan Mokwena’s charges not taking advantage of the chances they had in a match in which they had just one shot, taken by Maema, on target.
Chiefs finished the match more strongly than Sundowns though they were still shorn of the confidence and skills to trouble a Brazilian side that knows how to manage the game when they’re in the lead.
That Sundowns can beat Chiefs at a canter shows how much the pendulum has swung in SA football where the Brazilians are on course to win a sixth successive league title — a gong Chiefs last won in 2015.
Kaizer Chiefs (0) 0
Mamelodi Sundowns (1) 1
Scorers: Sundowns – Neo Maema (20m)
Sundowns break their winning record as they complete a first league double over Chiefs
At the FNB Stadium
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
Mamelodi Sundowns continued to toy with Kaizer Chiefs, completing a first double over Amakhosi in league encounters in a 2022-2023 campaign that is proving to be a huge nightmare for the Soweto giants.
The win saw Sundowns breaking their own 2007 record of 11 successive league wins in the PSL era, with this one the 12th, stretching their lead on top of the DStv Premiership to 17 points after 18 matches.
Neo Maema scored the winning goal for the Brazilians in the 20th minute, finishing a move that involved a number of Sundowns players down the right flank in which the young Chiefs midfielder Samkelo Zwane and left-back Sifiso Hlanti had their hands full.
Maema’s goal came after Sundowns had already missed a couple of sitters in a game in which their attacking maestro Themba Zwane orchestrated most of the visitors’ moves going forward.
But Chiefs had a couple of chances of their own, even if they were not on target and didn’t succeed because they were not playing coherent football. Sundowns made a lot mistakes in their own half where they were trying to build all their moves through birthday boy and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane recognised that (Samkelo) Zwane was perhaps the weakest link in their midfield and replaced him with the experienced Siyethemba Sithebe at the start of the second half. Chiefs fans showed their dismay over top scorer Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana whose first touches were woeful.
Sundowns maintained their dominance despite clear chances created in the second period and they were unlucky not to double their lead when striker Cassius Mailula sliced through the Chiefs defence but shot wide after benefitting from yet another Zwane pass.
The Brazilians beat Chiefs 4-0 in the corresponding fixture in August and the 1-0 score-line in this tie was mainly down to Rulan Mokwena’s charges not taking advantage of the chances they had in a match in which they had just one shot, taken by Maema, on target.
Chiefs finished the match more strongly than Sundowns though they were still shorn of the confidence and skills to trouble a Brazilian side that knows how to manage the game when they’re in the lead.
That Sundowns can beat Chiefs at a canter shows how much the pendulum has swung in SA football where the Brazilians are on course to win a sixth successive league title — a gong Chiefs last won in 2015.
Kaizer Chiefs (0) 0
Mamelodi Sundowns (1) 1
Scorers: Sundowns – Neo Maema (20m)
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