Mamelodi Sundowns have bowed out of the Nedbank Cup following a 1-2 defeat in a classic clash against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday night at a sold-out Loftus Versfeld. With how both sides came guns blazing, the encounter promised to be not only physically demanding, but an exciting one too.
The first box entry came from the visitors. A backheel pass in front of goal threatened the Downs rearguard but a calm Bathusi Aubaas cleared the ball to save his side from conceding early. The hosts had a quick response to the early threat by their counterparts through Teboho Mokoena. His famous shot at range was deflected, earning his side a corner. Lucas Ribeiro took the setpiece and delivered it to Marcelo Allende. Allende then made a cut back to Iqraam Rayners who hit it high above the bar.
After the nervy start, Masandawana started to pick up their pace and looked confident on the ball. A big chance came for them when Allende managed to bypass the Chiefs’ high pressure. He gave the ball to Ribeiro who delivered it to Rayners whose effort was smacked away by the goalkeeper.
The Brazilians piled up pressure in Amakhosi’s half which forced mistakes out of thevisitors. While trying to get the ball out of the danger area, Shalulile made aninterception with his chest. His attempt to send the ball to Rayners was cleared before Rayners could receive it.
Just after the hour mark, the visitors hit a long-range shot but luckily RonwenWilliams was high on alert as he backtracked to the net to smack the ball away.
In the final moments of the opening half, a late challenge was made on Allende while he was driving the ball into the danger zone. The foul prompted the referee to award the hosts a free-kick on the edge of the area. Taken by Mokoena, he fired the shot that found the tongue of the net to break the deadlock for his side. He helped his side head to the interval with an upper hand.
Before the hour mark, while looking to clear the ball, Lucas Suarez made a mistake which Chiefs capitalized on and equalized.
Masadawana had a chance to snatch back the lead through Ribeiro. He had connected well with the ball mid-air and struck a shot but the effort went over the bar.
In the final moments of the match, Amakhosi were awarded a free-kick. Unable to clear the lines, the Brazilians couldn’t get the defence right which saw the visitors scoring the winning goal. With a few minutes added into play, the hosts were unable to get a goal, seeing them bow out of the Nedbank Cup.
