Pretoria – After a seven-year Premiership trophy drought, Mamelodi Sundowns clinched their first title after a 3-0 win over neighbours SuperSport United at Loftus Versfeld last night.
Having taken the club from the trenches of relegation last season, coach Pitso Mosimane steered his side to a first PSL title inside a packed stadium last night.
Thousands of fans heeded the call of Sundowns owner Patrice Motsepe to come out in their numbers to spur their side on to a long-awaited PSL title victory. With fans donning Sundowns regalia allowed into the stadium free, the stands were a sea of yellow.
The club’s players dispelled the notion that they were simply overpaid and over-pampered by billionaire Motsepe’s cash.
Over the years, he has flashed his chequebook, spending millions on the club, to no avail.
Since winning the PSL title for the last time in 2007, Sundowns – in their pursuit of ultimate glory – had made eight head coach changes, until the arrival of Mosimane last year.
In just 90 minutes, the pain and anguish of seven years had been cast away. The heavy weight on the shoulders was dislodged and the jinx was alleviated at long last.
The victory over their neighbours saw Sundowns amass the largest points tally in PSL history in its current 16-team format. With one more game still to play, Sundowns have already set a new benchmark with 64 points accumulated in 29 games.
The last time Sundowns were champions of the Premier League was in the 2006/2007 season while being coached by current Bafana Bafana boss Gordon Igesund.
For Sundowns coach Mosimane it was third time lucky in the hunt for a winner’s medal, having finished runners-up twice as SuperSport coach. He became the fourth South African-born coach to lead a side to the Holy Grail, and the first black African coach to secure the rights to a winner’s medal.