Saturday evening at the Chatsworth Stadium, Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Royal AM 3-0 to increase their lead atop the DStv Premiership table to six points.
The Brazilians secured their position at the top of the standings heading into the World Cup break while handing Royal AM its second loss in their last three matches.
Neo Maema, a midfielder for Sundowns, opened the scoring for the visitors at the stroke of halftime with his second goal of the season.
The 26-year-old Maema capitalized on the efforts of the Brazilians’ star youth Cassius Mailula, who did well to compose himself in the Royal AM penalty area and set up Maema, who then curled his shot into the top corner.
In the 86th minute, Mailula capitalized on a rebounded shot to score a goal of his own.
The 21-year-old scored his second goal in as many games after he reacted quickest to Teboho Mokoena’s strike being deflected into his path and tapped in the rebound from close range.
Brandon Ralani, who came on as a second-half substitute and scored the game-winning goal off a Gaston Sirino pass, secured the victory for the away team.
Thwihli Thwahla didn’t exactly let Sundowns have their way in the first quarter, as they had the better opportunities and perhaps should have taken the lead through Lesvin Stoffels.
The Brazilians, on the other hand, have repeatedly demonstrated their resilience and quality over the years, and they did it again in this match, weathering an early storm before asserting their supremacy for the duration of the game.