Mamelodi Sundowns showed Pirates who’s boss, by hammering them by four goals to zero in the final of the Carling Black Label Cup at the iconic FNB stadium today.
The Brazilians suffered two early blows, first with Bradley Ralani going off with a hamstring injury, to be replaced by Lesedi Kapinga. A few minutes later in the 20th minute, Haashim Domingo was stretchered off after a reckless tackle by Bucs defender Tapelo Xoki, who was sent off for this indiscretion.
Undeterred, Sundowns proceeded to tear a ten man Pirates team apart. Just three minutes later, after 23 minutes, Downs opened the scoring via Sphelele Mkhulise, with a great pass from inside his own half by Lebogang Maboe. However, it was helped by poor positioning from the Pirates centre back pair, and shoddy goalkeeping from Siyabonga Mpontshane.
Soon afterwards, in the 34 minute, Cassius Mailula continued his fine run of form to score, after some very poor marking by the Pirates defence.
Three minutes later Grant Kekana had an easy tap in to make it 3-0, in a move that saw Sundowns outnumber the Pirates players in their very own box.
Sundowns went into the break cruising with their three goal cushion.
In the second half Sundowns continued to dominate, and it came as no surprise when they made it 4-0, when they easily picked their way through a static Bucs defense for Cassius Mailula to stroke the ball home from outside the box. Again Siyabonga’s goalkeeping was suspect, as he looked like a tired man diving to make a weak attempt to stop Mailula’s shot.
Downs who had the longer rest, having played the early game, rarely needed to get out of second gear as they toyed with Pirates at times in the second stanza.
The final whistle came as a relief for the ten man Pirates team. For Sundowns, it showed once again that having a huge squad is paying dividends.
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