Johannesburg — Another game, another draw for the newly crowned champions!
After winning the DStv Premiership without breaking a sweat a week ago, Sundowns failed to score in two league games in succession — against Cape Town City and Swallows FC.
Their recent stalemate was against Swallows at the Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the Birds hung on for an invaluable point that saw them drift away from the relegation zone.
While the Brazilians remained top of the pile with 61 points, Swallows moved up to 13th on the standings with 28 points, four adrift from the basement.
Back in the day, this would have been a justified result given that once upon a time, a clash between Sundowns and Swallows would have been a must-watch — thanks to the pedigree of both clubs.
But such has been the contrasting fortunes of the two teams over the years, this was a reminder of how the other outfit fell from grace while the other soared hence their respective targets.
The Birds’ wings have been clipped that they were in desperate need of points to save their elite status — and avoid the feat of playing in national first division once again.
Meanwhile, the guard of honour that they gave their counterparts — who wrapped up their sixth title in a row last week — told a story of how indeed the ‘sky has been the limit’.
Nonetheless, the starting line-ups of either side didn’t tell a story of a timid game, with both teams going with their strong guns in search of wins that would be key in their respective targets.
The only surprise, however, was from the favourites’ side as Cassius Mailula was on the stands, while Themba Zwane was also benched as Haashim Domingo and Sipho Mbule got rare starts.
But with their own quality, Swallows were ready to contain the Brazilians, with interim coach Musa Nyatama also going for the tried and tested goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi in goals.
The host nearly sprung the first surprise after a somewhat hospital pass from Grant Kekana who nearly allowed Evans Rusike on goal, but the Bafana defender did well to recover.
Sundowns didn’t take kindly to that early scare as they started to dominate possession, using the creativity of Mbule and Neo Maema to find Peter Shalulile and Domingo up front.
Despite their dominance, though, the Brazilians had nothing to write home about at half-time, having Shalulile and Maema ballooned their best chances of the stanza.
Amid their fruitless dominance in the first half, coach Rhulani Mokwena made changes early in the second, including introducing the pacy Abebubakar Nassir.
The Ethiopian was a thorn in the flesh for Swallows’ defence, pinning them in their own half. But Sundowns’ best scoring chance fell to Shalulile, who ballooned his effort after Akpeyi spilled the ball.
In the end, though, it proved to be another stalemate for the Brazilians who’ll turn their focus to another league game against Golden Arrows on Wednesday.
IOL Sport