IT nearly went pear-shaped. But, as he always does, Ronwen Williams ensured Mamelodi Sundowns were 2-1 victors over Royal AM at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday night with a last-minute save that ensured the champions grabbed the maximum points.
Sundowns remained at the top of the table ahead of Orlando Pirates on goal difference after both teams won their opening four matches in the Premiership.
Williams was well-positioned to stop a free header by Motebang Sera in what turned out to be the last action of the match, the striker from Lesotho raising his hands in despair and looking to the heavens, as if to ask ‘Why, God?’, because he had so many chances on the night, but just could not get it right.
A match that most had expected to be the equivalent of a Sunday morning stroll in the park for the defending champions turned up being nervy at the end after Sundowns failed to capitalise on their dominance.
They scored very early in the game through Sphelele Mkhulise, who punished a defensive blunder by the visitors to put Sundowns ahead on six minutes.
What happened here? 😲
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) October 23, 2024
It only takes Sundowns 5 minutes to take the lead at Loftus 👇🔥
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Expectations of a goal avalanche remained just that as Manqoba Mngqithi’s Brazilians toyed with their opponents, but just did not have that final finish to add to the coach’s frustration.
“We were very untidy in the final third. We made a lot of silly mistakes. We could have wrapped the game in the first half... We had better opportunities in the final third,” Mngqithi lamented after the match.
“But that final pass, that final decision, that flick pass which was casual, that cost us the game because we could have easily scored a lot of goals in this match if we had taken our chances earlier. That for me is the downside of this game.”
On the occasion of Peter Shalulile’s 31st birthday, the Namibian was given a full run – no doubt with the hope he’d mark the occasion with a goal – Sundowns were simply not their usual clinical self.
Credit has to go to the visitors, though, because they made some great defensive plays, one of which saw veteran Thabo Matlaba thwart Lucas Ribeiro Costa from making it 2-0 following fantastic build-up play.
Royal AM are stepping up their game 😬
Ribeiro Costa almost made it two for Masandawana
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It took yet another defensive failure by Royal AM for Sundowns to score what appeared the game clincher five minutes from time, Khuliso Mudau slotting home a loose ball after Shalulile’s attempt was blocked, but not enough away from the box.
Incredibly, though, John Maduka’s Royal AM team made a contest of it by scoring deep into injury time through Sbangani Zulu to instigate a nervy finish that could easily have seen the match ending in a draw.
A corner kick late in the match found Sera’s head, but he sent it straight to Williams instead of directing it some centimetres either way of the goalkeeper – who is heading out to the Ballon d’Or awards, where he is nominated for the best goalkeeper of the year – and he made the easiest of saves.
Like his coach, Williams was disappointed that Sundowns were not their usual ruthless self in the final third.
“A bit disappointed in the way we went about our business today, not as clinical and as dominant as we would like to be. But we are happy with the three points.”
* In the other match played on Wednesday night, Stellenbosch FC beat Chippa United 2-0 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
Steve Barker's men are on their way up 🔝
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Devin Titus gets his first league goal of the season 😏
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Ashley Cupido and Devin Titus scored for the Cape Winelands team.