Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane will watch the recording of Saturday night’s 2-1 defeat against AmaZulu at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday night a thousand times and still not understand why his team his lost.
In all honesty‚ the Brazilians made heavy weather of this encounter as they dominated proceedings for the better part of the night‚ but they have themselves to blame for the spilling three valuable home points‚ being denied their first home win of the season.
Before veteran strikers Siyabonga Nomvethe and Mabhuti Khenyeza scored in quick succession in the closing stages the Brazilians had dominated possession and chances‚ but they wasted numerous chances after Thokozani Sekotlong gave them an early lead in the eighth minute.
Nomvethe equalised for the visitors 10 minutes from time and Khenyeza ensured all the three points in the 88th minute as they recovered from conceding early in the match.
One of the main reasons Sundowns lost their third league match at home this season‚ following defeats to Polokwane City and Kaizer Chiefs‚ was the wastefulness of enterprising Bafana Bafana attacking midfielder Percy Tau.
Tau‚ who has been one of the star performers for Sundowns in recent times‚ squandered numerous good scoring opportunities earlier in the match to punish AmaZulu‚ who sat back and relied more on a counterattacks.
As a result of this victory‚ AmaZulu have moved to eighth on the log with 11 points while Sundowns‚ who were verbally abused by their supporters after the match‚ are sitting in ninth with only nine points.
Mosimane will now have to pick his players up following two successive defeats to Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu at home for Downs’ next league match against Orlando Pirates away from home next month.
Mosimane made two changes to the team that lost 2-1 to Chiefs on Tuesday at Lodtus Versfeld with defender Tebogo Langerman and midfielders Sibusiso Vilakazi and Khama Billiat making way for Fares Hachi and Anele Ncgongca.
Sundowns opened the scoring through a simple tap-in by midfielder Sekotlong for his first goal of the season after he received delightful pass from the left flank by defender Fares Hachi‚ but what was to follow was a series of squandered opportunities.
Though Sundowns dominated attacking chances in the opening stages of the match AmaZulu also had a few moments of their own with Michael Morton‚ Lungelo Dlamini and Jabulani Ncobeni leading the way‚ but they failed to punish their hosts.
AmaZulu coach Cavin Johnson was forced to make a change before the break when he replaced defender Sadate Ouro-Akoriko with midfielder Simphiwe Mtshweni as the former was skating on thin ice after he was yellow-carded as early as the fourth minute.
Shortly after restart‚ Tau missed two good chances to increase Sundowns’ lead in quick succession‚ one where he was thwarted by Samuel Darpoh’s sliding tackle inside the box and when his curling shot went just wide of the AmaZulu crossbar.
Tau was at it again a few minutes later when he failed to find the target from close range after he was fed a delightful pass from Morema on the right wing but Nomvethe and Khenyeza had other ideas as they pounced in the closing stages for this crucial victory.
Saturday's PSL results:
Ajax Cape Town 2 - Bloemfontein Celtic 1
Free State Stars 1 - Platinum Stars 1
Mamelodi Sundowns 1 - AmaZulu 2
Lamontville Golden Arrows 2 - Polokwane City 2
Kaizer Chiefs 0 - Orlando Pirates 0
- TimesLIVE
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