First Half Equaliser Sees Downs Share Spoils with Arrows

A first-half goal from Mamelodi Sundowns has seen them share spoils with Lamontville Golden Arrows following a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at the Mpumalanga Stadium. It was Lucas Ribeiro’s penalty kick that saved the Brazilians after the hosts broke the deadlock earlier in the game.

The hosts forced Denis Onyango to work in the opening half, which saw him tip a big chance over the crossbar to save his side. A few more chances were created by Arrows but Onyango managed to deny them.

A few minutes later Downs looked to pick up their pace and dominated the ball. A big chance came from Ribeiro from range but the goalkeeper managed to back paddle to make a save. The many chances created by Ribeiro were blocked by the Arrows defense. After the titanic tussle between the two sides, it was Abafana Bes’thende who opened the scoring in the 31st minute. The goal came from a setpiece that was directed into the net through a header.

Ten minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to the visitors after a handball inside the box. Ribeiro took the penalty shot and hit another panenka to level matters for his side. The two sides went to the interval with one goal apiece.

The Brazilians returned to play guns blazing, looking to snatch the lead from their hosts. Peter Shalulile made a good delivery to Tashreeq Matthews who took a shot but his effort deflected. Another chance to take a lead came after the hour mark through Arthur Sales who delivered a cross to Ribeiro whose first touch effort went over the bar.

Masandawana continued to knock on the door as they created convincing chances in the area. The hosts began to defend deep which Downs took advantage of as they continued to look for goals. While Bafana Ba Style looked for goals, Arrows were capitalizing on the counterattacks but were also not getting it right in front of the goal. Masandawana fought hard to grab all points on offer but in the end, they had to settle for sharing spoils in KwaZulu-Natal.

How we lined up: Onyango ©, Aubaas, Khoza, Lebusa, Adams, Ribeiro, Modiba, Allende, Morena, Matthews, Shalulile.

Subs: February, Suarez, Lunga, Mdunyelwa, Mokoena, Mkhulise, Letlhaku, Maseko, Sales.