Baroka FC (0) 0
Mamelodi Sundowns (0) 1
Kekana 84
They left it until late, but the poor officiating was to blame. Other than that, Mamelodi Sundowns, still quite fresh from their trip to Japan where they lost both their matches at the Fifa Club World Cup to their Asian counterparts, were focused enough to clinch a predictable win against a struggling Baroka FC side.
Hlompho Kekana eventually got his name on the score sheet in the dying minutes of this Absa Premiership clash after his earlier strike, on the hour mark, was incorrectly disallowed. It told the story of a decline is the below-par refereeing in the domestic league when Percy Tau thought he’d set-up his captain to break the deadlock. Kekana went off in a wild celebration only to see Baroka, who were also baffled by the decision as evidenced by their social media account, take a goal kick. The Sundowns skipper was yellow carded for protesting, but no one could hold him back when he finally bagged the winner.
A hard fought victory that coach Pitso Mosimane would have been happy with, but not entirely satisfied with. The Brazilians are still playing catch up having fell behind by five games because of their participation in the CAF Champions League. As far as the points per match ratio is concerned, Sundowns are still very much in the hunt to retain their Premier League title.
Sundowns players will sail off into the sun set over the next month or so to enjoy the well deserved recess that has been enforced on the league by the Africa Cup of Nations in January. It was not a vintage Sundowns performance, but they got over the line against rookies Baroka, who are bottom of the table. One game at a time for Sundowns then and the win on the night, which pushes them up seventh place on the table with five matches in hand. They are six points behind leaders SuperSport United, which further supports the notion that Sundowns could very well be favourites for the championship despite lagging behind with the number of games played.
Meanwhile, Sundowns will begin their CAF Champions League defence with a fixture against the winner of the preliminary round clash between Uganda’s Kampala Capital City Authority FC or Clube Desportivo de Agosto of Angola in March. The draw for Africa’s premier club competition was conducted in Cairo, Egypt and Sundowns, the current champions, will go straight into the first round, while their South African counterparts Bidvest Wits have to first get through the preliminary stage.
The Clever Boys have made it into the next the Champions League after finishing runners up in the domestic league behind the Brazilians and have been pitted against Saint-Louisienne from Reunion, an easy draw on paper. It’s the fixture lined up, if they get past the opening round, that will prove a real test. Wits will have to get past Egyptian giants Al-Ahly, the eight-time Champions League winners, to get a spot in the group stages.
The draw for the less prestigious – but still credible – CAF Confederation Cup was also conducted in Cairo on Thursday afternoon, and South Africa also has two participating teams in that tournament. Platinum Stars will head over to Mozambique to take on Desportiva do Songo, while SuperSport United travel to Madagascar for a meeting with ASSM Elgeco Plus in February. All the matches will be played over two legs.
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