Golden Arrows came from behind to beat Mamelodi Sundowns 3-2 in a thrilling Premiership clash on a wet afternoon at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont on Sunday.
Thapelo Morena opened the scoring for the visitors in the pouring rain, but Arrows rallied after the break to earn all three points thanks to goals from Danny Phiri and Knox Mutizwa who bagged a brace. Andile Jali netted a late consolation goal for the defending champions as they remain 10 points behind league leaders Kaizer Chiefs.
Arrows move up to fourth as a result of the win, a point behind the Brazilians.
The conditions had a stranglehold on the game throughout the 90 minutes with the wind assisting the Sundowns attack come set-piece time during the first half.
Lyle Lakay’s corner-kicks were especially menacing and Arrows did just enough in the 27th minute to stop him from scoring an ‘Olympic goal’ with Trevor Mathiane clearing the ball off the line with Edmore Sibanda beaten.
Arrows finally conjured a chance of their own in the 36th minute with a flowing move that sent Mutizwa through on goal, but he dragged his resulting shot wide of goal.
The breakthrough finally came five minutes later as Tebogo Langerman picked out Morena following a lung-busting run down the left flank, leaving his teammate with the easiest of finishes, as he tapped home to give Sundowns a narrow lead at the break.
Abafana Bes’thende levelled matters in the 61st minute in rather fortunate circumstances as Denis Onyango spilt the ball from Phiri’s tame shot between his own legs and into the back of the net.
This breathed further life into the hosts who took the lead in the 72nd minute through Mutizwa. A delightful ball from his Zimbabwean counterpart Divine Lunga teed up the forward who struck home at the far post for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Arrows were then given a chance to double their advantage nine minutes later after Seth Parusnath was brought down inside the area by the combination of Mosa Lebusa and Motjeka Madisha. Mutizwa duly stepped up to the spot and fired home past Onyango to complete his brace.
Sundowns, though, were not going down without a fight and pulled a goal back through Jali with two minutes of regulation time remaining. Lyle Lakay then went close to stealing a point for the Brazilians in stoppage-time, but Mathiane pulled off a superb last-ditch block to divert the ball over the crossbar as Arrows held on for the win.
In partnership with ANA and Sports Leo
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