Sundowns, Pirates play to goalless draw in ill-tempered affair
A feisty league encounter at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday afternoon ended in a 0-0 stalemate between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.
Gaston Sirino of Mamelodi Sundowns is tackled by Xola Mlambo of Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates at Loftus Versfeld on November 10, 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Phill Magakoe/Gallo Images)
On a very hot afternoon, tempers boiled over regularly. And had referee Daniel Bennett been less lenient on the day, not all 22 players may have finished a match which failed to provide much in the way of goal-scoring chances.
The build-up to game had been dominated largely by talk surrounding Pirates assistant coach Rhulani Mokwena, who had been assistant to Pitso Mosimane at Sundowns two seasons ago, with some claiming that Mokwena’s influence at both clubs has overshadowed that of the head coaches.
And that was to spill onto the field, literally, 35 minutes into the first half, when a Sundowns fan ran over to the Pirates dugout to confront Mokwena. The Bucs bench reacted angrily as they wrestled the man away, at which time the Sundowns contingent, with Mosimane at the forefront, came dashing over to get involved.
It appeared no real damage was done, physically at least, but there were certainly some ugly scenes which reflected poorly on both teams, and it took well over five minutes before the dust had settled and the match was able to resume.
On the field, the action was stop-start, with a high foul count, a lot of niggle, and no real clear-cut chances on goal. Sundowns player Gaston Sirino in particular was lucky not to be booked for two shocking challenges on Xola Mlambo.
There was an early opportunity, for Downs striker Jeremy Brockie inside the first minute, but he flashed a first-time effort from a tight angle well wide.
Other than that it was no more than speculative efforts on goal as Thabiso Kutumela, Thembinkosi Lorch and Mlambo all fired shots off target for the Buccaneers, while Lyle Lakay sent a powerful drive just over the bar for the Pretoria team.
In first half added time – of which there was nine minutes – Justin Shonga came closest to finding the net when his free kick from out on the left just failed to pick out the far top corner of the net.
The second half saw the football once again taking centre-stage as Pirate made a storming start, putting the Masandawana defence under some serious pressure with a series of dangerous balls into the box.
Sundowns responded as Sirino and Lebohang Maboe fired in shots, both off target, before substitute Phakamani Mahlambi immediately tested Bucs keeper Siyabonga Mpontshane with a near-post effort on the hour mark.
The game remained open, with both sides taking their turns to attack and more action followed as Sundowns keeper Denis Onyango got behind a stinging drive from Augustine Mulenga, before Mpontshane kept out Thapelo Morena with 11 minutes to play, in what proved to the last real opportunity of a spicy Gauteng ‘derby’.
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