Wits in pound seats

Fasten your seat belt and brace yourself for a spine-tingling finish to the Absa Premiership season as champions Mamelodi Sundowns,Bidvest Wits and Cape Town City battle it out for the title in the coming weeks.

All three teams were in action yesterday and provided twists and turns to the title race that wouldn't have been out of place in a Brazilian telenovela.

Wits and Sundowns met in a mouthwatering top-of-the-table Premier Soccer League showdown at Bidvest Stadium in Milpark, Johannesburg, and produced a display that served as a delectable appetiser to what is to unfold in the final weeks of the campaign.

Though The Student s won the match 1-0, and in the process took ownership of the league summit, the Brazilians were not disgraced and gave a warning that they will not give up their title without a fight.

Wits (51 points) are now a point clear of second-placed Sundowns and the two sides have five matches remaining.

After going at each other in a tense first half, Wits broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute when Ben Motshwari benefited from a Sifiso Myeni cross and powered home a beautiful header that beat Downs' No1 Denis Onyango.

Sundowns could have equalised almost immediately but Themba Zwane's low shot was somehow kept out of the goal by the upright.

Wits coach Gavin Hunt will have been relieved that he went into the half-time break leading as Downs were starting to turn the screws with Percy Tau asking questions.

To the two teams' credit, they did not sit back in the second half and continued from where they left off.

You could have cut the tension in the stadium with a knife in the second half and it was no surprise that the two teams finished the match with 10 men each after second-half substitutes Fares Hachi and Wits' Daine Klate were sent off for second bookable offences.

The 5pm start meant that Wits and Sundowns knew exactly what they needed to do after title rivals City faltered against Maritzburg United at Harry Gwala Stadium earlier in the day.

The high-riding Citizens were beaten 1-0 by United courtesy of a Kurt Lentjies' strike.

Sundowns will look back at this match and wonder what could have been if they had made better use of their opportunities .

They should have opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Tau peeled away from his markers inside the box and delivered an inviting shot that flashed across the face of goal. None of his teammates was able to capitalise on the opportunity.

Wits woke up after that and took the game to Sundowns, with Mogakolodi Ngele constantly plugging away at the visitors and making a nuisance of himself.

Tau should have scored again in the 26th minute after a deliciously executed cross from Khama Billiat, but failed.

Sundowns face struggling Platinum Stars at Loftus Versveld Stadium on Thursday in their next outing, and Wits will host unpredictable Orlando Pirates at Bidvest Stadium on the same day.