Sundowns roll on; Chiefs defeated ahead of Soweto derby

by Graeme Jackson

Wednesday Nov 03, 2021. 21:17

A midweek round of seven completed DStv Premiership matches featured yet another win for table-topper Mamelodi Sundowns, while Kaizer Chiefs will head to the Soweto derby on the back of a defeat.

Sundowns defeated Maritzburg United 1-0 at home on Wednesday evening – thanks to a brilliantly-taken goal from Peter Shalulile – to see the Brazilians extend their unbeaten start to the season to eight matches, reclaim a three-point lead at the top of the log (with a game in hand) and secure a South African league record by keeping an 11^th straight clean sheet.

Earlier in the day, Cape Town City left it late to claim a 1-0 win over Chippa United at the Cape Town Stadium. Abdul Ajagun netted the only goal of the game in the penultimate minute of regulation time, with the result seeing the Citizens rise to eighth place on the log and bounce back from their MTN8 final disappointment this past weekend.

The Chilli Boys, meanwhile, are down in 14^th place and just one point above the relegation playoff zone after an eighth match without a win in the league.

Wednesday should also have featured AmaZulu taking on Marumo Gallants at the King Zwelithini Stadium, but the fixture was abandoned after just a few minutes of play due to clash in playing kit – with the match officials struggling to distinguish between the dark green and dark blue of the respective teams. The teams will fulfil the fixture on Thursday afternoon.

The headline results on Tuesday saw contrasting fortunes for Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates ahead of their Soweto derby meeting this weekend.

The Amakhosi had a two-game winning streak brought to end by a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Stellenbosch FC – who extended their unbeaten run in the league to 13 matches, including the back end of last season – with a fine goal from Ashley Du Preez.

The Buccaneers, by contrast, came from behind to defeat Sekhukhune United 2-1 at home and end a four-game winless run in the top-flight. Linda Mntambo and Kabelo Dlamini netted for Pirates, who enter the derby with more momentum on their side.

Bucs were not the only side to recover from a deficit to win 2-1 at home: Royal AM did the same against 10-man SuperSport United, with an injury-time winner from Menzi Masuku, and it was a similar story for TS Galaxy against Baroka FC, with Menzi Ndwandwe’s late strike seeing the Rockets to a first victory of the season. Elsewhere, Golden Arrows and Swallows FC played out a goalless stalemate.

The DStv Premiership will continue with a full round of fixtures this coming weekend, 5-7 November, headlined by the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

Midweek DStv Premiership results

Tuesday 2 November

Kaizer Chiefs 0-1 Stellenbosch FC

Golden Arrows 0-0 Swallows FC

TS Galaxy 2-1 Baroka FC

Royal AM 2-1 SuperSport United

Orlando Pirates 2-1 Sekhukhune United

Wednesday 3 November

AmaZulu v Marumo Gallants – Abandoned due to clash of playing kit

Cape Town City 1-0 Chippa United

Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 Maritzburg United