Mamelodi Sundowns players and their technical team really came to the party this season, contributing a whopping R40-million of prize money into the coffers of the club from all the tournaments that they participated in.
Last night, they completed a clean sweep and accomplished a rare treble after winning the Nedbank Cup by defeating Marumo Gallants 2-1 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. But credit must go to Gallants, who made the much-fancied Sundowns to sweat for their victory.
If you take the R7-million from yesterday’s Nedbank Cup triumph, then add the R8-million for the MTN 8, the R15-million from lifting the DStv Premiership and the ($650 000) R10-million for reaching the quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League, it comes to a thumping R40-million. On top of their wealthy owner, who pumps millions of rand into the club, the playing staff contributed massively to the club’s healthy bank balance.
Gallants may have dominated possession in the opening period with their impressive inter-passing, but Sundowns delivered where it mattered most, scoring the all-important goals that gave them the victory.
Peter Shalulile scored the opening goal in the 33th minute before Thapelo Morena grabbed the winner deep in extra time with almost the last touch of the match. For the opener, Shalulile capitalised from some slack and casual defending by the Gallants defenders and drilled his shot past goalkeeper Washington Arubi.
As expected, Gallants’ Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo dictated matters in the middle of the park but they could not penetrate the Sundowns rear guard manned by Brian Onyango and Grant Kekana. As a result, they created very few scoring opportunities and Kennedy Mweene was not troubled at all. Part of Gallants’ downfall was that they did not defend as a unit, leaving Arubi to play as a sweeper-keeper on numerous occasions.
However, Gallants started the second stanza aggressively and matched Sundowns pound for pound. They started punching holes in the Sundowns defence and it was no mistake that they levelled matters through super-sub Junior Dion. The partisan crowd was silenced and coach Dan “Dance” Malesela did his trademark sprinting celebration – it was game on.
Sensing trouble, Sundowns upped their tempo and took the game to their opponents in search of another goal. But they were not clinical and wasted numerous opportunities and the game went into extra time. With the penalty kicks looming, Sundowns piled on the pressure and Morena was clinical when he showed composure and rolled the ball home past Arubi.
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