Wednesday evening at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Marumo Gallants 1-0 to ascend to the top of the DStv Premiership table.
Sundowns had the upper hand from the opening whistle, forcing Gallants into a defensive position. Sphelele Mkhulise and Teboho Mokoena worked effectively together to set up the game’s first goal after the Gallants’ defense had survived a few close calls earlier.
Mokoena was high above the opposition defenders when Sundowns attacked the goalmouth of Gallants, and when they closed in on him, he passed the ball to Mkhulise, who calmly struck the ball well wide of Washington Arubi, the Zimbabwean goalie for Gallants.
Before this goal, both Zwane and Marcelo Allende came close to scoring as Sundowns assaulted the opposition’s defense in the early minutes.
The Gallants fared marginally better in the second half, but were unable to get the equalizer; even though they scored in the final minute, the goal was disallowed in a very questionable manner.
At the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto, the bottom-ranked Swallows FC stunned Royal AM, who lost 2-0.
After defender Gregory Damons, who was placed in midfield, opened the scoring in the 38th minute, Swallows’ first-half pressure began to take its toll a few minutes before the break.
Ironically, Royal AM appeared more likely to score after having many scoring opportunities right after the kickoff.
After enduring the initial assault, Swallows seized the initiative and applied pressure. They had four first-half corners and an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal, demonstrating their dominance at this stage of the game.
Six minutes into the second half, Musonda Mwape, a former Zambian international, scored a goal to extend Swallows’ lead.
This “insurance” objective signalled the beginning of the end for Royal AM, who were unable to recover from their two failures.
At the King Zwelithini Stadium at Umlazi, Durban’s Richards Bay defeated Cape Town City by a score of 1-0.
Lyle Lakay scored an own goal at the conclusion of extra time for City.