Sundowns beat Chippa to open 13-point lead at the summit of the league
Mamelodi Sundowns beat Chippa United 2-1 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday evening to claim a 10th successive victory in the DStv Premiership.
Sundowns welcomed Chippa at home in Tshwane and successfully achieved their mission for the night of opening a 13-point gap at the summit of the log standings.
It was a tightly contested affair in the opening minutes.
The first real chance fell for Sundowns when Sphesihle Mkhulise cut through the left wing to find in-form Cassius Mailula but his low shot was inches away from target.
Masandawana broke the deadlock in the 14th minute from a dead ball situation when Aubrey Modiba’s free kick found Teboho Mokoena, who converted with a powerful header.
Chippa went on to look for a quick response on a counter attack when Etiosa Ighodaro dribbled passed the Sundowns defence but his grass cutter shot was dealt with by Ronwen Williams.
Sundowns came close to finding the second goal of the match when Haashim Domingo stormed through the right wing but his shot was parried away the Chilli Boys goalkeeper Loydt Kazapua.
The defending champions went into the half time break with one goal advantage courtesy of Teboho Mokoena’s header.
Chippa got the second half underway and Morgan Mammila replaced Ighodaro with Elmo Kambindu.
PETER SHALULILE SCORES ON HIS RETURN TO ACTION
The Brazilians made a triple substitution, bringing in Gaston Sirino, Lesedi Kalinga and Peter Shalulile, with Themba Zwane, Cassius Mailula and Haashim Domingo taken off.
Shalulile made his return to the Sundowns match day squad since suffering an injury last year September against Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 semi-finals.
The Namibian international marked his return with a goal in the 65th minute after left back Sfiso Ngobeni played a pinpoint cross Shalulile who scored a header from a close range.
The Gqeberha-based side came close to finding a consolation goal in the 77th minute when Marcelo Allende made himself big on the goal line to deny Kambindu his first goal of the season.
The goal for Chippa eventually came in the stoppage time when Thabiso Lebitso towered over the Sundowns defence to beat Ronwen Williams.
The goal was not enough as Sundowns won 2-1 to walk away with maximum points.
RELATED STORY: Golden Arrows’ Nduduzo Sibiya makes bold Sundowns claim