Mamelodi Sundowns moved six points clear at the top of the Absa Premiership table after beating Golden Arrows 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night.
The Brazilians were made to sweat as Arrows did not make things easy for them.
Sundowns almost took the lead as early as the second minute when a goalmouth scramble inside the Arrows box fell to Gaston Sirino, but his 16-yard effort struck the post.
Sundowns controlled possession after that and dictated the flow of the game, but the Arrows defence stood firm and kept them at bay for the most part.
Nonetheless, the home team continued to push forward and were rewarded for their efforts in the 23rd minute when the referee awarded them a penalty after Zolani Nkombelo brought Sibusiso Vilakazi down inside the box.
Ricardo Nascimento stepped up for Sundowns and made no mistake from the spot to give his side the lead.
They went to the break with a 1-0 scoreline in favour of Sundowns are at the top of the log with 55 points after 27 matches. In the second half opportunities kept falling at will for the Brazilians as Percy Tau found himself central from a long ball and almost beat Maximillian Mbaeva, who held onto the ball at the second time of asking.
Sundowns kept probing late on for the second but were unable to find it as they ended the evening 1-0 winners to open up a six-point gap ahead of Orlando Pirates with three games left.
