Young Mailula stars as Sundowns thump Royal AM in Durban

Mamelodi Sundowns look to have unearthed a new star in the young and talented Cassius Mailula.

The 21-year-old, who always impresses when given a chance, once again played the lead when Sundowns defeated Royal AM 3-0 in a DStv Premiership match at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban on Saturday night.

Mailula not only scored but also provided an assist for Neo Maema’s opening goal. Surprise Ralani scored the other Sundowns goal.

New sensation made his debut for Masandawana last month but has already scored six goals — three in the Caf Champions League and three in the Premier Soccer League.

His excellent performances show why he has been played ahead of tried and tested attackers such as Themba Zwane, Gaston Sirino and others.

The youngster possesses great timing that you would expect from a seasoned attacking midfielder.

Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena made a single change to the team that won 5-0 against Maritzburg United on Tuesday.

Rushine de Reuck was not part of the match-day squad and was replaced by Mothobi Mvala in the starting line-up.

While the scoreline indicates Sundowns walked all over Royal, the KwaZulu-Natal club were not that bad.

It was just a lack of concentration towards the end of both halves that let them down.

For most of the first half the two sides were evenly balanced, with Royal oldies Ellias Pelembe and Lesvin Stoffels showing no signs of slowing down.

Pelembe, who played for Masandawana early in his long career, is 38 years old while Stoffels is 34.

But they ran Sundowns’ defence like a couple of spring chickens and threatened to open scoring for the hosts in the opening half.

Despite Royal creating numerous chances and keeping Ronwen Williams busy for most of the opening stanza, it was Maema who scored first for the five-time defending league champions on 45 minutes.

Maema was set up by the unselfish Mailula, who outplayed a couple of Royal defenders inside the box before setting up the former.

Before that goal, Sundowns hadn’t had even a single shot on target but when they got a chance they made it count.

In the second half, the log leaders were more in charge with players such as Mailula, Zwane off the bench and others giving them more control.

Their dominance produced goals later in the half as Mailula scored on 85 minutes while substitute Ralani scored with just a minute left to go.

Sundowns will now go on a break because of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar and they will return to action when they host Orlando Pirates in a league match on Saturday, December 31 (7.30pm).

Sundowns will be happy to go to the break not only at the top of the standings but having registered six back-to-back victories in the league.

Meanwhile, Royal have another tough encounter in the Caf Confederation Cup playoffs as they travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to face TP Mazembe on Wednesday.

The second leg of the playoffs will take place in Durban on Wednesday, November 9, and after that they will go on a break.

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