Sundowns finally break Cup jinx
Amakhosi pay the penalty as goalkeeper Onyango saves two spot kicks
HISTORY will record that Sundowns finally broke their Cup final jinx with a comprehensive 3-1 win against Chiefs, but Denis Onyango’s name will be etched into local footballing folklore.
HISTORY will record that Mamelodi Sundowns finally broke their Telkom Knockout Cup final jinx with a comprehensive 3-1 win against Kaizer Chiefs, but Denis Onyango’s name will be etched into South African footballing folklore.
While the game was sealed by goals from Leonardo Castro, Thabo Nthethe and Hlompho Kekana, Onyango’s two penalty saves decided the fate of the game. Nthethe gifted the penalties through a foul on Bernard Parker and a handball, but Siphiwe Tshabalala and Camaldine Abraw both saw their attempts brilliantly saved by Onyango.
Kekana’s 81st minute goal was the final straw and the Amakhosi faithful headed for the exits.
It was a humbling of almighty proportions and at the end of the warm night, Sundowns won their first Telkom Knockout Cup final since 1999, when they beat Free State Stars 2-0. Chiefs last won the tournament through a 3-0 mauling of Orlando Pirates in the 2010-11 season, but they did not look like they would heap more Cup final misery on Pitso Mosimane’s men.
The ferocity of the midfield battle gave the game a rugby feel and the intent from Sundowns’ pretty boys was astonishing. Bongani Zungu and Themba Zwane are not the get-stuck-in type but their commitment took Chiefs by surprise.
Zungu was involved in an early scuffle after an unsavoury tackle, but his attitude showed Sundowns were not going to back down.
Referee Khulasande Qongqo could have handled the situations better and the two cautions he dished out to Castro and Tebogo Langerman were reactionary.
While they were deserved, there was always a feeling that Chiefs players got away with their share of rough tackles.
Maybe Chiefs’ frustration came from conceding a fifth-minute goal through Castro after the back four were caught sleeping.
After a sustained early attacked, Langerman’s pace and guile saw him glide deep into Chiefs’ half before unloading a teasing cross. Khama Billiat laid on the assist for Castro to head in.
The goal came against the run of play, but it was a harbinger of the difficulties Chiefs were to face at the hands of Billiat and Keagan Dolly. The latter did not show the ill-effects of a gruelling, but successful Olympic qualifying campaign, with an electrifying performance down the left. As the second and deep-lying forward, Billiat constantly drew the hapless Lorenzo Gordinho out of position. It left Morgan Gould with a mountain of defensive work to get climb.
Chiefs had their half-chances in the 13th and 26th minutes, but Hendrick Ekstein and Siboniso Gaxa fluffed them.
Sundowns took a decisive grip on the game early in the second half, when Nthethe powered his header past Brilliant Khuzwayo in the 51st minute. Chiefs coach Steve Komphela made a rare triple substitution a minute later, but the damage had been done.
Kekana sealed the result with nine minutes to go with a low shot from just inside the area.