Johannesburg- Mamelodi Sundowns finally brought joy and more bragging rights to their hordes of Kabo-Yellow fans after lifting the MTN8 trophy for the first time in 14 years by beating Cape Town City 3-2 on penalties at Moses Mabhida Stadium last night.
In a drama-filled penalty shootout, former CAF African goalkeeper of the year Denis Onyango, who is also the Downs captain, was the hero after saving five penalties spot kicks to lead his troops to a historic victory.
In one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in SA football, City players whose penalty shots were saved by Onyango were those taken by Khanyisa Mayo, Fagrie Lakay, Abdul Ajagun, Taariq Filies and Thamsanqa Mkhize, while Terrence Mashego and Mpho Makola scored.
Makola was booked immediately after the shoot-out for confronting referee Thando Ndzandzeka. He disputed Downs’ winning penalty, claiming Onyango had moved before the shot was taken.
The new Wafa Wafa champions’ players who failed to find the back of the net are Hashim Domingo, Sibusiso Vilakazi, Aubrey Modiba and Mosa Lebusa. The scorers were Andile Jali, Neo Maema and Peter Shalulile.
Masandawana contested the winner-takes-it-all season-opening competition, which carries a R8-million prize money, unbeaten in all competitions this season.
Back to the match, the opening third was evenly matched as both sides attacked in numbers while doing the same when defending early in the first half.
But it was Thabiso Kutumela’s genius that led to Sundowns opening their account when the Bafana Bafana forward took on the City defenders then crossed the ball to the advancing Thapelo Morena, who ran from deep and brilliantly put the ball past keeper Hugo Marques 24 minutes from kick-off.
The Citizens, under the guidance of coach Eric Tinkler, who is in his second stint at the club, lacked early fire power going forward, and made some elementary mistakes, thus living up to their underdogs tag.
They looked vulnerable, especially on the right flank where Dove Edmilson and Thato Mokeke were operating.
Despite giving Sundowns some scary moments, whereby Onyango was called upon to pull off daring saves, City failed to work as a unit compared to their compact and purposeful opponents.
However, Lakay had other ideas as he added his second of the tournament, putting the Citizens level 1-1 15 minutes before full-time after being superbly set up by Bradley Ralani.
His strike gave City officials in the pavilion suite something to cheer about, including AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy, who had won the trophy with the Cape side three seasons ago.
Lakay’s strike took the proceedings to extra time, however, the 30 minutes added did not yield the desired outcome in the form of goals to separate the two sides, thus taking the match to the lottery of penalties.
Sundowns, who last tasted cup success in 2019 when they lifted the Nedbank Cup, were jubilant immediately after referee Ndzandzeka blew the final whistle. They had not won the Wafa Wafa cup since 2007, when it was still known as the SAA Supa 8.
And for a team that has been dominating local football recently, their failure to lift this cup surprised many as the Brazilians are unbeaten this season both in domestic football and on the continent.
En-route to the final, they were responsible for the scalps of Kaizer Chiefs and Golden Arrows while City disposed of AmaZulu and Swallows.
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