So much for lightning not striking at the same place twice! Neo Maema proved this was not necessarily the case when he once again scored the winner for Brazilians against Amakhosi in a DStv Premiership match.
Maema came off the bench late in the match and slotted home the winner in the final minute to give the defending a one-goal victory in a 2-1 result just as he had done last season when Mamelodi Sundowns beat Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in the league.
The goal was somewhat fortuitous though, Maema’s volley inexplicably beating a hitherto impressive Brandon Petersen. It was a heartbreaking error for the Chiefs goalkeeper and captain who had literally stood between his club and a mauling with some incredible saves as a dominant Sundowns went for the kill. But with his team having cancelled out Lucas Ribeiro’s first half opener via Ashley Du Preez, Peterson developed butter fingers and allowed the ball to slip through his hands to give Sundowns their second 2-1 victory of the campaign.
The reality though is that Sundowns were deserved winners, Rhulani Mokwena’s men having been dominant from the onset against a Chiefs side that appeared to have come to the Lucas Moripe Stadium to avoid defeat instead of attempting to win.
They went ahead as early as the 21st minute when Brazilian Riberio slotted home his second of the campaign from inside the small box following a back pass gone wrong by Chiefs.
While Chiefs looked a bit sprightly after the break, it was Sundowns who created the better chances, but their talismanic striker Peter Shalulile had clearly left his scoring boots at home on the day. The Namibian international missed two half chances in the first half but then fluffed one he would ordinarily score blind-folded five minutes after the recess having been put through by Ribeiro. He had another opportunity just after the hour mark which he failed to use.’
Young Thapelo Maseko who was the Sundowns livewire on the left wing inexplicably shot wide on 67 minutes when tapping home the loose ball from a Peterson safe had looked easier.
The misses gave Chiefs confidence and Ranga Chivaviro saw his diving header deflecting off Mtobi Mvala’s out-stretched leg and going wide for a corner kick. Some changes by coach Molefi Ntseki saw Amakhosi becoming much more sprightly and one of those created the equaliser, Potsane delivering the inch-perfect cross that found Du Preez in between two defenders. He simply stretched his leg to connect with the ball to send Ronwen Williams scooping the ball from inside the net.
It looked as though Chiefs would earn an unlikely draw, especially with Peterson having been so impressive with some great stops using his outstretched legs. But he fluffed what appeared an innocuous volley from Maema to gift Sundowns the win.
IOL Sport