Mamelodi Sundowns top of the log at Christmas

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Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns will spend Christmas at the top of the Betway Premiership standings.

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This comes after a last-gasp goal from Iqraam Rayners saw Mamelodi Sundowns snatch a victory away from home over AmaZulu FC on Tuesday afternoon at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

In the early moments of the match, the visitors came close to opening the scoring through Khuliso Mudau.

Still, they were unable to use the opportunity he received from Lucas Ribeiro better when the ball went over the bar.

With an almost immediate retaliation through a counterattack, Usuthu was able to drive the ball to Masandawana’s box, entering the area, but Malibongwe Khoza calmly blocked the ball.

It was a titanic tussle with the two sides playing box-to-box football despite Downs dominating possession.

Ronwen Williams sees red

It didn’t take long before Kobamelo Kodisang looked to help his side open the scoring after the half-hour mark.

He made a good run to the near post, but the goalkeeper tipped it away, earning them a corner.

The corner shot found Rushine De Reuck, who headed the ball, which hit the bar to miss the target.

The first stanza was promising, especially for the Brazilians, but it did not afford any of the sides a lead, seeing them head to the break deadlocked at 0-0.

The first big chance in the opening minutes of the second half came from Ribeiro, who played a little dink, but his attempt was caught as the AmaZulu defence headed the ball out.

Just before the hour mark, Ronwen Williams was given marching orders by the referee, following a forced substitution, introducing Denis Onyango, who replaced Aubrey Modiba.

With one man down, for a few minutes, Bafana Ba Style looked vulnerable, and the hosts took advantage of that.

A mistake almost cost the visitors in the area after continuous counter–pressing by Usuthu.

Fortunately, the hosts were denied a lead by the woodwork.

Moses Mabhida witnessed a lovely interplay between Rayners and Mudau, which was one of the biggest chances for Masandawana, but Rayners was unable to get it right as he shot from a tight angle.

With a free-kick afforded to Mamelodi Sundowns in the 90th minute, Teboho Mokoena took the shot on the edge of the box, which was directed inside the net by Rayners’ header to finally break the deadlock.

AmaZulu almost equalised in added time, but Mudau made a good recovery in the area to clear.

A few more attempts followed but were not clinical enough for them to level matters.

In the end, the game ended with a hard-fought 1-0 victory for the Brazilians.