Mamelodi Sundowns advanced to the Carling Knockout semi-final in style after walloping Kaizer Chiefs 4-0 in front of a sold-out FNB crowd on Saturday night.
This is thanks to goals from Peter Shalulile, Khuliso Mudau, and a brace by Iqraam Rayners to help Sundowns continue to march on to the next stage of the knockout competition.
For Chiefs and coach Nasreddine Nabi, it will be a long season ahead as they are now winless in the last three outings in all competitions.
In what was a game punted as a final before the final, and a sold-out affair inside the calabash, it was never the case as Sundowns dominated Chiefs from the first to the final whistle on all fronts.
The visitors landed the first blow through a penalty when referee Luxolo Badi pointed to the spot after Lucas Ribeiro was fouled inside the box by Njabulo Blom.
The goal was followed by unsavory scenes when a Chiefs supporter invaded the pitch to lodge an attack at Badi. The situation worsened as unhappy supporters continued to throw objects inside the pitch, which resulted in the referee halting the game for a few minutes.
The game, did, however, resume and the Brazilians picked up from where they left off and scored two more goals before half-time through Rayners and Shalulile.
The second half was relatively the same, as it was one-way traffic with Sundowns continuing to torment the Amakhosi defense.
In the 61st minute, Mudau put a nail in the coffin when he dinked the ball over hapless goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari, following an exquisite through-pass from Ribeiro.
Things got even worse for Nabi and his charges, as captain on the day, Miguel Inacio picked up a second yellow card and was shown a red card for denying Shalulile a goal-scoring opportunity on the edge of the box.
Despite Chiefs pushing for a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game, it was not meant to be as they crashed out of the Carling Knockout in a disappointing fashion.
