Sundowns Beat Polokwane City To Move 5 Points Clear Of Pirates
Mamelodi Sundowns moved five points clear of Orlando Pirates at the top of the Betway Premiership after completing a league double over Polokwane City with a 3–0 victory at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday.
Sundowns now have 64 points from 27 matches, although they have played one game more than the Soweto giants. Pirates will have an opportunity to close the gap when they face Stellenbosch FC at Athlone Stadium on Tuesday.
Polokwane City faced a tough task, with Sundowns having lost just once all season—a defeat away to Lamontville Golden Arrows in October. The two sides had also met earlier in the week at Seshego Stadium, where Sundowns edged a narrow win thanks to Marcelo Allende.
Back on a pristine surface in Pretoria, Sundowns nearly opened the scoring early on. In the 17th minute, Teboho Mokoena delivered an excellent cross for Iqraam Rayners, but the striker’s header went straight to goalkeeper Lindokuhle Mathebula.
Sundowns dominated possession, probing from wide areas and midfield, while Polokwane sat deep and looked to counterattack. Mokoena’s positioning out wide proved effective, and in the 33rd minute, his cross found Rayners again—this time the forward made no mistake, scoring his 12th league goal of the season, just one behind Junior Dion of Golden Arrows.
Sundowns extended their lead in the 56th minute through Tashreeq Matthews, who struck a powerful shot past Mathebula after being set up by Themba Zwane.
Polokwane were handed a lifeline when Aubrey Modiba was penalised for handball, but Puleng Marema slipped during his penalty attempt and sent the ball wide.
They had another chance in the 77th minute when Monty Batlhabane broke through, nicking the ball off Nuno Santos, but his effort went wide with Ronwen Williams to beat.
Substitute Santos added a third goal in the 85th minute, finishing neatly after being played through by Brayan León to seal the victory. León nearly added a fourth late on but poked his effort wide from a cross by Divine Lunga.
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