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Better goal difference may be all that ensures Mamelodi Sundowns finishes 2020 on top of the DStv Premiership after blowing an early lead to draw 1-1 with Lamontville Golden Arrows at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
The Sundowns have a +5 goal difference over Swallows FC, the only team with a chance to match their 18 points at the top of the standings after eight rounds.
The high-flying Dube Birds need to beat Black Leopards in Thohoyandou today to end the year with the same number of points with the defending champs who were unable to use dominant possession in Saturday’s game.
Heading into the Caf Champions League first round match against the Jwaneng Galaxy in Botswana on Tuesday, Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena laid the club’s talisman and top scorer Themba Zwane to rest and plan It seemed to work perfectly as rookie Mthobi Mvala gave the visitors the lead in the 17th minute.
Mvala headed hard on Lyle Lakay’s corner kick, but Arrows quickly showed why they started this match undefeated when they found the tie five minutes later, with Michael Gumede opening his league account with a lovely header near the post after some great work. by Ntsako Makhubela on the left.
Mvala, a player not yet making his Sundowns debut after being part of the circle of stars that joined the Brazilians before the start of the 2020-21 season, started ahead of George Maluleka, another player Mokwena did not include in the squad. from yesterday. before his trip to Gaborone on Monday.
Playing Andile Jali in the heart of the Brazilians’ engine room, Mvala seems to settle down quickly, although Arrows Makhubela midfielder Seth Parusanathy and Velemseni Ndwandwe are always looking to take advantage of what little space they had.
The home team may have struggled to match Sundowns in the first 45 minutes, but as soon as the second leg began, they also grew in confidence and created some starts, with Nduduzo Sibiya closing in with an early free kick.
Playing in scorching weather conditions, the game slowed down a bit in the last 30 minutes and there was nothing to separate the two sides in what was the first reunion of Steve Komphela, now Sundowns senior coach, with Mandla Ncikazi, who it happened as Abafana Bes’thende. coach.
It was feared that the managerial changes could seriously affect and destabilize Arrows, but so far Ncikazi has proven Thomas doubters wrong, with yesterday’s draw, sixth, keeping his unbeaten streak intact.
Ncikazi came to yesterday’s game hoping to repeat what he and Komphela did to the Brazilians in November last year. Arrows beat the Brazilians 3-2 but lost 1-0 in the second-round tie in a season that was completed in a bio-bubble in Gauteng.
The Arrows coach could have seen his team steal all three points right at the time of death if referee Jelly Chavani had awarded a penalty to the home team when Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Anyango elbowed Matome Mathiane inside. of the area.
But after consulting with the fourth official, Chavani indicated that play should continue, a decision that brought the match to a stalemate that maintains the undefeated record for both sides.
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