Sundowns make cup last 16 at Richard Bay’s expense
The home team made it into the next round of the Nedbank Cup.
Mamelodi Sundowns beat Richards Bay 3-2 on Tuesday to make it into the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup at Loftus.
Richards Bay put up a good fight right to the nail-biting end, but the Sundowns took the victory with striker Peter Shalulile scoring a pair and Mosa Lebusa one against only two by Bay.
Sundowns opened the scoring within 10 minutes when Shalulile fired across Richards Bay goalie Magoola Salim to give the Brazilians an early lead.
Sipho Mbule struck Salim’s crossbar from a freekick after Richards Bay’s Ntsundwana Somila had been adjudged to have pushed Downs’ Lesedi Kapinga to the ground.
At the 20-minute mark, Sundowns came close to another successful shot; however, Shalulile just couldn’t find the spot after a long run from Surprise Ralani.
The comfort waned at the half-hour mark when the visitors scored a surprise goal off a penalty following a foul by goalie Denis Onyango.
Nkanyiso Zungu converted to make it 1-all.
The equaliser put a fire under Sundowns as they fought back hard. After just five minutes conceded, Sundowns’ Mbule headed over.
The Brazilians tried one more time before the break to take the lead when Shalulile was sent through by Thapelo Morena but Salim made the save.
The break did Sundowns good because in the 46th minute, it reestablished the lead with a header by Mosa Lebusa to make it 2-1.
The slim lead with much of the game to go was not enough for Sundowns and they continued to search for more goals. Ralani and Kapinga skipped through the visitor’s defence with some neat passes allowing Kapinga a pop at goal, but he blazed over.
In the 55th minute, Sundowns Sifiso Ngobeni and Kapinga worked the ball to Shalulile whose strike found the mark for a more comfortable 3-1 lead.
With the breathing room firmly established, Sundowns took Mothobi Mvala, goal scorer Shalulile and Mkhulise off the field for Rushine De Reuck, Thabiso Kutumela and Andile Jali respectively.
Returning from injury, Rivaldo Coetzee came on in the 80th minute to replace Kaping.
Kutumela brought energy to the front lines and won a free kick outside the arch almost as soon as he had stepped onto the park.
His kick straight at the keeper was easily saved.
Richards Bay fought bitterly to score seconds before the final whistle for a full-time score of 3-2.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
