Johannesburg – Mamelodi Sundowns were officially crowned the 2020/21 PSL champions when they lifted the brand new DStv Premiership trophy after thumping Cape Town City 3-0 at Loftus Versfeld and Kaizer Chiefs nail-biting but narrow 1-0 victory secured them a top eight finish over TS Galaxy at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga.
Chiefs caretaker coach Arthur Zwane made only one change to the midweek starting IX against Golden Arrows by rewarding midfielder Nkosingiphile Ngcobo with a start and relegating Kearyn Baccus to the bench.
Coming on as a substitute, Ngcobo’s darting runs set up one of the goals during their 3-2 victory over Arrows.
The Rockets attacking trio of Mxolisi Macupu, Lindokuhle Mbatha and Masilaker Phohlongo tried to break the Amakhosi wall but were either caught off side or shot straight into Chiefs keeper Bruce Bvuma’s hands.
Amakhosi experienced a scary moment when their dependable defender Erick Mathoho, popularly known as Tower, had to be stretchered off the field with a back injury but returned after receiving treatment with the proceedings just 20 minutes old.
The Glamour Boys’ determination to secure a top eight berth came alive when Serbian dangerman Samir Nurkovic intercepted a flicked header, then rose above three defenders inside the box to nod home the opener thus giving the visitors a 26th minute lead, thanks to Ngcobo’s sheer grit in the middle of the park.
Chiefs midfield livewire Manyama must have felt hard done by, by referee when he was brought down in the danger area but the middleman decided to ignore the 62nd minute foul.
Amakhosi continued to probe looking at increasing their one-goal cushion and the opportunity was squandered when Nurkovic made a run on the left flank, found Ngcobo inside the box but the latter failed to connect the 81st scoring opportunity.
On entering this encounter, TS Galaxy and Chiefs were level on goal difference of minus four while the Rockets were on eighth place with a superior points tally of three, compared to their ninth placed opponents. Now this end of the season tie sees Chiefs leap frogging TS Galaxy to fill the top eight spot by a goal difference of two strikes.
Other PSL results
Sundowns 3 –0 CT City;
Pirates 0 – 0 Tshakhuma;
Maritzburg 0 – 0 AmaZulu;
Arrows 0 – 0 Stellenbosch;
Swallows 1-1 Baroka;
Leopards 1-1 Celtic;
Chippa 1 –1 SuperSport.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
Sunday World
