Lebohang Maboe’s hat-trick heralded Mamelodi Sundowns to their 3rd successive league victory. The Pretoria-based club has now reached a 10th Championship trophy in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). A record no single team has achieved in South Africa to date.
Saturday, September 05, 2020
It all came down to the 30th and the last match of the season.
As it were, it live up to its hype in the run up that ushered spring with chilly bites midweek from the cold front that gripped Gauteng.
Due to its broad array of infrastructure, the Gauteng province was deliberately chosen to host all the remainder of the matches after the league was put on ice in March in the wake of Covid-19 global outbreak.
But, by the end of the week, the cold front subsided. The weather conditions improved. On the momentous day of reckoning, it got even better. Bright as lights. Setting a sparkling backdrop for deciding the champions on the final day of the Premiership race.
Saturday was a very dramatic football spectacle in the domestic frontier of the premier league.
For the 10th time, Mamelodi Sundowns have been coronated the 2019/2020 Absa Premiership League champions at Dobsonville Stadium stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg.
A feat unparalleled in the local football stakes. For them, it was a familiar ceremony in all its glitzy confetti. They came from a deep position after some grueling CAF Champions League face-off to snatch it in the nick of time.
This season’s chase, however, was so special it took the last matches to settle and decide the ultimate winners of the league.
Before kick off, Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs were neck-on-neck on 56 points. A primer for a hamdinger of colossal proportions.
Chiefs only managed a 1-1 draw with Baroka FC who were in the battle of their own in the relegation skids. Then the penny dropped.
A point was enough to beat the drop for Baroka as they ended 14th with 29 points on the log. Their chief aim was accomplished. They could not careless about the rest.
No so for their opponents. Chiefs finished 2nd on 57 points after sitting on the summit of the league table nearly the entire season. Beggers believe what befell them when it mattered the most.
Against Baroka, Chiefs were ordinary. They did not have a masterly ace up their sleeves to circumvent the odds that were Baroka. They seemed out of depth to mount any championship winning mettle.
In contrast, Baroka’s equalizer jogged their own oppotimism and emboldened them. They came across as more resolute after they drew level. Small wonder they barked the relegation drop. Kaizer Chiefs tried all they could but their efforts were not good enough.
The triumphant Sundowns sunk Black Leopards to the playoffs in a 3-goal thriller. It could have been worse had Ricardo Nascimento converted a penalty in the first half. The recorded scoreline after the end of the game does not reveal the entire miserable Leopards story. They [Leopards] were on the ropes for the most part.
For what it is worth, Leopards finished 15th with 29 points on the relegation red zone. They will take comfort in the fact that they have a second chance to redeem their Premiership status. Having said so, it will not be easy. They will need to rise from today’s brutal defeat and summon up the courage to try once more in the nonsensical playoffs.
As far as the top-draw league is concerned, there can be no lingering doubt now who the gigantic Kings of the PSL are.
Once again, Sundowns successfully defended their throne.
For the Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane, this this league trophy was yet another record-setting milestone in the PSL. The latest is the fifth added to his honours in charge of The Brazilians.
September 05 marked the end of the 2019/2020 Absa Premiership League season. What is more? The title sponsor, Absa, has effectively ended its relationship with the PSL also.
Saturday’s Absa Premiership Results
AmaZulu FC 1-1 Highlands Park at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium
Chippa United 1-0 Golden Arrows at Orlando Stadium
Bloemfontein Celtic 3-1 Maritzburg United at ABSA Tuks Stadium
Bidvest Wits 3-1 Polokwane City at FNB Stadium
Cape Town City FC 1-0 SuperSport United at Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Orlando Pirates 1-0 Stellenbosch at Emirates Airline Park