SUNDOWNS WHIP POOR RICH BOYS IN BETWAY PREMIERSHIP DUEL!

It was raining goals at the Lucas Moripe Stadium when Mamelodi Sundowns returned to winning ways following a 4-1 victory against Richards Bay on Saturday night.

Goals from Tashreeq Matthews, Malibongwe Khoza, and Iqraam Rayners saw the Pretoria-based side head back to the top of the league table.

The visitors sent a strong message early in the game when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the box. From a tight angle on the right, the effort that had been received from the setpiece rattled the woodwork to deny them an opener.

The hosts were also creating chances, but the defence of the KwaZulu-Natal side was just too strong and was not giving them space to score any goals. On the 15th minute, however, the hosts finally managed to find space and opened the scoring through Matthews. Nuno Santos had made a cross to Matthews, who redirected the ball with his head to the box, but the effort was smacked away by the goalkeeper. Matthews then found the rebound and struck the net.

Santos almost added his name on the scoresheet nine minutes later through a long-range effort, but the keeper put his body on the line to deny him a goal. Rayners suffered the same fate a minute later when his effort from a tight angle was blocked by the goalkeeper’s body.

The Natal Rich Boys were struggling to clear their lines, and Masandawana were capitalising on that and maximising their opportunities. In the 27th minute, from a rebound again, Khoza doubled the advantage for the hosts.

The visitors were retaliating and eventually, it worked in their favour when the ball was snatched off Khoza’s feet. A run was made to the area, and as Ronwen Williams came out, the ball got lobbed over him to find the back of the net.

In the 40th minute, the referee pointed on the spot in favour of Bafana Ba Style. This came after Khuliso Mudau was shoved inside the area. Iqraam Rayners fired the shot past the goalkeeper to make it three goals, giving Downs some breathing room against their Richards Bay counterparts. After a thrilling four-goal opening half, the host went to the break with the upper hand.

The hosts almost scored their fourth goal early in the second stanza. Mudau had delivered the ball into the area. Santos made a run towards the ball, but the keeper came out before him to clear the ball.

The Brazilians started to flirt with danger as their visitors kept the ball in their half and threatened the rearguard. Williams also miscued a shot as he tried to clear the ball, but it was intercepted by the host. Luckily, Mosa Lebusa managed to clear the ball away with an excellent tackle.

In the 63rd minute, the hosts found their fourth goal. Santos had delivered the ball to Rayners, who lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper, who was off his line. The ball rattled the woodwork. Matthews was the quickest to run forward to take the rebound and punched it into the box.

Rayners almost found a fifth goal for Downs in the 73rd minute. The ball came from Mudau on the right flank, but Rayners’ shot was blocked to deny him a brace. In the remaining minutes of the match, the two sides played end-to-end football, but there were no more goals scored.