Mosimane sent off but Sundowns secure the points
MAMELODI Sundowns stretched their lead at the top of the PSL with a 1-0 win over Cape Town City at a packed Athlone Stadium last night.
But, for the Capetonians, it was the same old story; possession they had aplenty, but again they lacked a cutting edge in attack and, denuded of a reliable marksman, they simply could not buy a goal at this point in time.
As it is, Sundowns go seven clear at the top on 38 points, followed by City on 31 and Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates both on 30 points.
Sundowns certainly won’t worry too much that they struggled to make headway all night; the points are in the bag.
And, to be brutally honest, despite dominating the ball and territory, a blunt City were so bereft of spark and creativity up front, they could have played for another week and they still wouldn’t have scored.
As much as the opening 45 minutes was characterised by flowing, absorbing action, it was also laced with drama and controversy – and, as usual, referee Victor Gomes was at the centre of it all.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane was sent off by Gomes in the 27th minute after he had a few words with the referee to question the awarding of a foul.
The match official clearly wasn’t happy with whatever Mosimane said and the coach was quickly ejected from his place on the bench.
Sundowns, though, were clearly instructed at half-time to concentrate on the football and nothing else. Three minutes into the second half, they finally found some impetus in attack – and it was the effervescent Percy Tau who made things happen.
The Sundowns forward skipped clear down the left flank, leaving a host of City defenders in his wake, and, when the cross came in, it was Khama Billiat who finished with a fantastic volley.
In the 70th minute, Gomes again showed that he is a referee who won’t tolerate abuse from the bench – this time, it was City’s turn as goalkeeper-coach Brian van der Heever was sent to the stands for mouthing off at the officials.
Gomes had the last word, too, as he red-carded City captain Robyn Johannes in the final moments of the game.
NJABULO NGIDI
ORLANDO Pirates’ coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojeavic has challenged his players to show character by bouncing back in style after being thumped 3-0 by a struggling Ajax Cape Town on Wednesday.
The loss to the Urban Warriors brought the Buccaneers crashing down to earth after a flying start to the new year that saw them collect 10 points out of 12, with commanding wins over Mamelodi Sundowns, Baroka FC and Platinum Stars.
The Buccaneers have to pick themselves up and take on Maritzburg United tonight at Orlando Stadium.
“We are in a (rebuilding) process,” Sredojevic said. “We are learning. We have learnt a lot of lessons (in our match against Ajax).
“One of those lessons is how to break down a reinforced defence. It’s a hard lesson in the game of football. It’s not pleasant to be on the losing side.
“We have to go back to the drawing board as I like to say.
“When you are building, these things happen. I wish that this would wake up the pride in us. We had to find a way to recover the team because the match against Maritzburg is our third in seven days. But this is a match where we need to show character.”
The Serbian coach likes to say that football has no logic, you move one step forward and then take two steps back.
After four steps forward in the new year, the Buccaneers took three steps back by failing to breach the impregnable wall Ajax put in front of them and were rudely punished for that.
Maritzburg, with the jointbest defensive record in the country along with Kaizer Chiefs, will give Pirates’ strikers a tougher test tonight.
The Team of Choice doesn’t only have a good defence, they have a running team that packs a mean punch which should make this an entertaining spectacle against teams that can go toe-to-toe with the best in the country.
The Buccaneers will be looking to make up ground that they lost in the championship race.
Returning from the Mother City empty-handed didn’t only give their league ambitions a knock, but it also sees them 10 points behind their target of 40 points after 20 matches. It will take a herculean effort, winning all their 10 matches, for the Soweto giants to finish the season with their target of 60 points.