The sky is indeed the limit for Mamelodi Sundowns as they returned to the top of the DStv Premiership table following their 2-0 win in the Tshwane derby against SuperSport United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday night.
On Sunday, Cape Town City briefly climbed up to the top of the standings after their 1-0 win over Golden Arrows, but the Brazilians have now reclaimed their pole position on the log table.
Wednesday’s result means that Sundowns are yet to taste defeat in the league and have now won all their nine matches and are now sitting on 27 points.
SuperSport, on the other hand, succumbed to their fourth defeat and held on to their number three position with 23 points.
Both coaches Rulani Mokwena and Gavin Hunt went for the same 4-3-3 formation, with the objective to press high up the pitch and aim to get an early goal.
Hunt was forced to drop first-choice goalkeeper Ricardo Goss and Nigeria international striker Godspower Ighodaro, as they could not feature against their parent club.
His opposite number Mokwena also missed two of his key players in Marcelo Allende and Bongani Zungu due to suspension.
To fill up the void, Mokwena gave the nod to Sphelele Mkhulise, who played as the playmaker and a link between defense and attack alongside Lebohang Maboe and man-of-the-match Neo Maema.
With the absence of regular starters, Masandawana did not look like themselves as they struggled to dominate play and were not as fluid as they are known to be.
Matsatsantsa did not make things easy for them, as they were disciplined in defence until the 30th minute when lethal striker Peter Shalulile found the back of the net and registered his eighth goal of the season.
At the stroke of half-time, the Brazilians scored one of the best orchestrated dead-ball situation goals, when Lucas Ribeiro found himself one-on-one with keeper Washington Arubi and scored an easy goal after an extravagant disguise pass from Maema – a move that looked to have been practiced from the training ground.
Masandawana could have easily extended their lead but their complacency in front of goal was visible, with Shalulile and Maboe missing clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities.
SuperSport tried taking the game to Sundowns in the second half and created chances to get back into the game, but it was not meant to be as they lost the game and continue to be dominated by their city rivals.
