Mokoena conjures late magic as Sundowns shoot down Arrows and climb to PSL summit

Mamelodi Sundowns climbed to the summit of the Betway Premiership after Teboho Mokoena produced a late moment of magic to snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory over Golden Arrows at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday.

For much of the afternoon, Sundowns appeared to have done enough through Siyanda Ndlovu’s first goal for the club against his former employers.

Then Junior Dion struck with 15 minutes remaining and threatened to turn another meeting between the sides into a frustrating afternoon for Miguel Cardoso.

Mokoena had other ideas.

With the contest heading towards a draw, the Bafana Bafana midfielder delivered the decisive blow to ensure the African champions left KwaZulu-Natal with all three points and top spot in their luggage.

The two sides needed little introduction after recently battling over two legs in the MTN8 semi-finals, which Sundowns won, but there was none of the early chaos that had characterised parts of those encounters.

Instead, both teams initially approached the contest with caution.

Dion provided the first real warning when he unleashed a powerful attempt from outside the penalty area, forcing Ronwen Williams to parry the ball away.

Sundowns gradually began to take ownership of possession, patiently moving Arrows around while searching for a crack in their disciplined defensive structure.

It arrived after 14 minutes.

Ndlovu found the space required to punish the club he previously represented, opening his Sundowns account to give Cardoso’s men a precious 1-0 advantage.

There was no elaborate celebration from the youngster. Instead, Ndlovu kept his emotions in check out of respect for his former club.

Sundowns continued to dictate the ball while Arrows largely waited for opportunities to break forward.

Tashreeq