Mamelodi Sundowns produced yet another impressive performance when it mattered the most, as they beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night.
The result means that Sundowns have reduced the gap at the top of the Betway Premiership standings to three points, with a game in hand.
For Pirates, they will feel gutted about the outcome. It now means they have to win their next tough assignment against a wounded Kaizer Chiefs in what will be a titanic Soweto Derby encounter next weekend.
Pirates got two goal-scoring opportunities that could have put them in the lead early in the game. But goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was equal to the task in both attempts.
The home side was to later rue their squandered opportunities. This as Sundowns punished them through their new talisman, Brayan Leon, who scored two goals in quick succession. Thus taking his side into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Bucs coach Abdeslam Ouaddou must have had a serious pep talk with his charges in the changeroom. They came out guns blazing and found the back of the net through a deflected shot by Patrick Maswanganyi to awaken the ghosts.
It was end-to-end stuff from there onwards, as the Buccaneers were in search of an equaliser. While Masandawana went out for that cushion goal.
Neither of the two sides could register another goal. With Sundowns coming out on top to snatch three crucial points away from home. And reduce the gap at the top with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, in the other match that played out at the Danie Craven Stadium, it ended in a 1-1 stalemate between 10-man Stellenbosch FC and Magesi FC.
