Iqraam Rayners’ late goal proved decisive as Mamelodi Sundowns claimed all three points against AmaZulu FC in a hard-fought Betway Premiership encounter on Christmas Eve.
The reigning league champions – Sundowns, beat AmaZulu 1-0 win at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Tuesday afternoon.
Masandawana travelled to KZN to lock horns with AmaZulu, who were looking to claim their second successive win in the league.
In their previous encounter, ‘Usuthu’ defeated Royal AM 2-1 at the King Zwelithini Stadium to walk away with bragging rights in the KZN Derby.
On the other hand, Sundowns have collected maximum points in their last match after defeating Stellenbosch FC 1-0 at the Cape Town Stadium on the 18th of December 2024.
The victory over Stellies was Sundowns’ first win in the league for the new coach, Miguel Cardoso, who took over the coaching job a few weeks ago. Cardoso was appointed as the club’s head coach following the sacking of Manqoba Mngqithi.
In a match against AmaZulu, Sundowns enjoyed most of the ball position, but they struggled to be ruthless in the final third. ‘The Brazilians’ created a goal-scoring opportunity in the fourth minute when Lucas Ribeiro played a great pass to Thapelo Morena, who couldn’t covert from a tight angle.
Sundowns had another opportunity to find the back of the net in the 19th minute with a powerful shot from Teboho Mokoena; however, his shot was dealt with by Richard Ofori.
MAMELODI SUNDOWNS DOMINATE, BUT LACK RUTHLESSNESS
Late in the first half, the Tshwane giants squandered another golden opportunity to take the lead after Khuliso Mudau ballooned his shot inside the penalty box over the crossbar. Referee Masixole Bambiso blew the half-time whistle with the game deadlocked at 0-0.
Downs continued to pile the pressure on AmaZulu in the second half after Ribeiro dinked the ball over Ofori, but Ramahlwe Mphahlele cleared the ball off the line.
Sundowns were dealt with a blow in the 56th minute after Ronwen Williams was shown a straight red card for handling the ball outside the penalty box.
As the search for a goal intensified, Iqraam Rayners found the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out as the former Stellenbosch FC striker was in an offside position. Shortly after Sundowns’ attack, Pule Ekstein stuck the woodwork for AmaZulu as they created a rare scoring opportunity.
Rayners eventually scored for Sundowns in the 90th minute. The match ended 1-0 in favour of Mamelodi Sundowns against AmaZulu to move to 27 points at the summit of the log.
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