MAMELODI Sundowns are making it virtually impossible for their competitors to catch up with them in the race for the Absa Premiership title.
Their 5-2 victory over Free State Stars at the James Motlatsi Stadium in Orkney has opened up a six-point gap between them and closest rivals Bidvest Wits.
Downs now have 42 points in the standings, with Wits chasing at 36 and Mpumalanga Black Aces third with 35.
Interestingly, Sundowns have Orlando Pirates on Wednesday while Wits face Kaizer Chiefs tomorrow in a week that will give guidance to the final destination of the championship.
It was a game characterised by an assortment of blunders from players, especially by Sundowns in the opening minutes.
And one can’t blame Ea Lla Koto for dedicating the majority of their time to being in defensive mode at this Orkney venue, relying on counters to attack – but their last touch was a nightmare.
Downs were caught napping just a few seconds into the match when Danny Venter hit the opening goal for Stars.
But Wayne Arendse couldn’t be outdone on the day, as he made sure they went into the break on level pegging by finishing off Tebogo Langerman’s failed effort to score.
Stars could in fact have scored a couple of goals in the first half but their poor finishing let them down again, at a stage where they had Downs under control.
Stars coach Giovanni Solinas must be commended for having applied a one-on-one kind of approach against Downs, which made it difficult for the Brazilians to play their normal passing game and forced them to resort to long balls.
The usual Downs goal-scoring crew of Keagan Dolly, Khama Billiat, Leonardo Castro and Mogakolodi Ngele hammered in four more goals for Sundowns to further frustrate the ailing Stars, who scored their second consolation goal via Hendrik Somaeb.
- Elsewhere, Platinum Stars defeated Polokwane City 3-0 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
