Downs and Celtic draw
The Mamelodi Sundowns catch-up programme that gave them a sizeable advantage over the rest of the title-chasing pack because of their games in hand is disintegrating slowly.
Following Wednesday night’s goalless draw against a determined Bloemfontein Celtic at Lucas Moripe Stadium, the Brazilians now count three points from a possible 15 and they remain fifth on the log with 35 points.
In this period, Sundowns lost to Cape Town City and Kaizer Chiefs, drew against Chippa United, Polokwane City and Celtic and they now trail the logleaders by seven points.
The last time Sundowns won a league game was when they beat Bidvest Wits 2-0 on February 25 and they have now gone five matches without a win, which is hardly championship material.
It does not get any easier for coach Pitso Mosimane’s men as their next two matches in the league are back-to-back clashes with bitter Tshwane rivals SuperSport United in the next two weeks.
Although they shared the spoils with Celtic, Sundowns will count themselves unlucky as they created most of the scoring chances and they were unlucky not to have taken the lead after the hour mark.
Ricardo Nascimento’s closerange shot deflected off the body of Alfred Ndengane onto the inside of the crossbar, with Patrick Tingyemb well beaten as the scoreline remained tied.
Teko Modise’s free kick from outside the box with four minutes remaining on the clock was parried over the crossbar by acrobatic Celtic goalkeeper Tingyemb, for a corner kick.
On the other hand, Celtic remain on position 12 on the standings, with 23 points and their mission to get out of the relegation zone continues with a blockbuster clash against Chiefs next week Wednesday.
Earlier in the game, Thapelo Morena delivered a dangerous cross into the Celtic box, but striker Leonard Castro, who found himself unmarked in the box, headed over the cross-bar, with Tingyemb beaten.
Under pressure Sundowns defender Soumahoro Bangaly, who scored an own goal that cost the Brazilians a point against Chiefs last weekend, was nearly disposed of by a Celtic striker in the danger area.
Fortunately, Bangaly recovered in time.