Hardly 72 hours had passed when Mamelodi Sundowns drew first blood – defying all the aired talk about possible burnout – at the same venue they lifted the Telkom Knockout (TKO) trophy on Saturday had The Clever Boys found themselves trailing.
The only Absa Premiership league contest between Wits and Sundowns at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Tuesday ended in a 1-1 scoreline, amounting to a point apiece.
Gaston Sirino put The Brazilians‘ noses in front as early as 15 minutes from kick off. He capitalized on Themba Zwane’s miscue-cum layoff after Andile Jali put on a brilliant cross from the right.
Not to be outdone, Wits’ Deon Hotto cut inside from the left and bent a beautiful cross. Slicing through the night sphere under the Durban floodlights, it connected with Gift Motupa’s gliding header to cancel that lead just before the half-time break [45+1′].
Later in the second half, Motjeka Madisha’s header in the box came very close coming off the post in the second half.
A game every three days is taking a “toll on us but we will keep pushing,” man-of-the-match Jali said. Though Wits had enough resting time, the Sundowns holding midfielder advanced, “we did our” utmost “best”.
A point earned from the stalemate takes The Brazilians to second in the league standings with 25 points, one ahead of SuperSport United. Equal on 13 games played, Sundowns are behind log-leaders Kaizer Chiefs by nine (9) points. Head coach Pitso Mosimane had this to say in the post-match interview:
A point is fair. OK… he, “Mshishi” [Zwane] should have scored. Hotto only uses one foot. He is left-footed. Layle Lakey should have known better as well as Madisha. “May is a long way.”
Coach Gavin Hunt thought the game was Wits’ worst performance on Tuesday night. He said Sundowns have depth when it comes to quality players. However, he argued that they had more chances than them. Furthermore, they could have wrapped up the game in the first half, he said boldly.
The Clever Boys‘ 20 points (equal with Lamontville Golden Arrows but goal difference) tally stands them on position four (4) on the log after 10 league games.
They play in Johannesburg this Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 against Cape Town City FC at Dobsonville Stadium in a night [20h00] fixture.