Sundowns Punish Siwelele Errors To Move 6 Points Clear At The Top

Mamelodi Sundowns continued their impressive start to the Betway Premiership season with a convincing 3-0 victory over Siwelele at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The Brazilians were back in action just three days after beating Golden Arrows, a result that extended their lead at the top of the table.

Sundowns have now moved six points clear of second-placed Orlando Pirates, with the African champions sitting on 19 points while the Buccaneers have 13. However, Pirates still have two games in hand.

Kutlwano Letlhaku opened the scoring for Sundowns in the second half, before Siyanda Ndlovu and Tashreeq Matthews added two more goals to seal the victory. Ndlovu scored his second goal of the season, having also found the net against Golden Arrows over the weekend.

The first half saw both sides create several scoring opportunities, but neither could break the deadlock as both defences remained alert and dealt with the danger effectively.

After the break, Sundowns took greater control of the match, and their pressure eventually paid off in the 58th minute.

Teboho Mokoena unleashed a powerful long-range effort that struck the crossbar before the ball fell to an unmarked Letlhaku inside the box. The Sundowns attacker made no mistake, calmly finishing the chance to give his side the lead.

The home side came close to doubling their advantage in the 70th minute when Aubrey Modiba stepped up to take a free-kick, but his effort struck the crossbar.

Just two minutes later, Siwelele made a costly mistake while attempting to build from the back. The ball fell to an unmarked Cassius Mailula, but his effort was saved by goalkeeper Wandile Mthombeni.

Siwelele were punished again for another defensive error in the 80th minute.

This time, the ball fell into the path of Ndlovu, who took full advantage of the opportunity to score Sundowns’ second goal of the night.

Sundowns continued to control proceedings in the closing stages as they searched for more goals, and they got their reward when Matthews raced onto a pass before delicately clipping the ball over Mthombeni, who was making his club debut.

Although there was little to separate the sides in the first half, Sundowns’ quality ultimately told after the break, particularly following the changes made by the Brazilians.

Their next challenge comes on Saturday when they travel to the Eastern Cape to face Chippa United.

A victory for Sundowns would see them move nine points clear of Orlando Pirates, who will once again be involved in CAF Champions League action this weekend.