Disciplined City catch runaway leaders Sundowns on the counter at Loftus
PRETORIA: It took a team from a city with a water crisis to extinguish the fiery Mamelodi Sundowns that were picking up momentum and had all the makings of a wildfire.
But just like the small amounts of water in the Mother City, Cape Town City’s victory at Loftus yesterday was just a drop in the bigger scheme of things as Sundowns are still at the summit going into the Christmas break.
The Capetonians did however trim Sundowns’ lead at the top of the standings from six points to four, jumping from fifth place to second in the process.
City were disciplined defensively and kept their lines well, fully aware that going toe-totoe with Sundowns is suicidal. The Brazilians were patient in their build-up trying to bridge the Table Mountain that the Capetonians put in front of goalkeeper Sage Stephens. At times they passed the ball around too much instead of taking a shot. Stephens was up to the challenge when Sundowns eventually shot from a distance, producing a number of brilliant saves to guarantee his team maximum points.
The visitors absorbed the pressure well and looked deadly on the counter with an attack that was led by Aubrey Ngoma and Nana Akosah-Bempah. The two combined well to give City the lead from a swift counter-attack that was started by Edmilson Dove.
A diagonal pass from Akosah-Bempah to Ngoma left Denis Onyango stranded, caught in two minds on whether he should attack the ball or stay on his line. The Sundowns goalkeeper did both half-heartedly and didn’t retreat to his line fast enough. Akosah-Bempah punished him by threading the ball past Onyango and Thapelo Morena to open his account with City.
These two clubs produced a fast-paced game on a slippery pitch that took a lot out of the players and made some routine tackles look worse than they were. Ngoma was a victim of this as he pulled a hamstring before halftime.
Ngoma’s injury fast-tracked Teko Modise’s introduction in his first match against Sundowns since he switched from Chloorkop to the Mother City. Sundowns fans showered Modise with love. A large number of them cheered him off the pitch after the warm up and applauded him as he prepared to replace Ngoma.