Arrows save best for last against Downs

Lamontville Golden Arrows struck late in the second half to secure a 1-0 win over Mamelodi Sundowns in their Absa Premiership clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday evening.

Thanduyise Khuboni scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot to help his side secure their first victory of the season.

The visitors dominated possession in the first half and came close to taking the lead in the 9th minute through Emmanuel Baffour, but he rushed his shot and saw the ball going wide of the far post.

Despite not seeing enough of the ball in the opening stages of the match, the home side threatened to open the scoring in the 16th minute as Thamsanqa Gabuza almost benefitted from a poor backpass from Clayton Daniels, but the defender was saved by goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands who bravely came out to block the shot.

Then it was chance after chance for Sundowns as the combination of Samuel Julies, Themba Zwane, Emmanuel Laffour and Baffour kept the Arrows defence under the pressure, but they failed to get the ball into the back of the net.

Zwane had two great opportunities to open the scoring midway through the first half, but his shot was blocked by Ritus Krjauklis in the 23rd minute, while he failed to hit the target a minute later.

Sundowns were almost made to regret their wastefulness in the 34th minute when Siyanda Zwane’s cross found Gabuza in the centre of the penalty area, but the striker was unfortunate to his shot coming off the woodwork.

The second half saw both sides throwing caution to the wind as they committed more players forward in an attempt to break the deadlock, but most of the shots failed to bring the goalkeepers into action.

Arrows should’ve taken the lead in the 53rd minute when Mapolisa skipped past Abel Mabaso on the left, but he delayed his shot and eventually a defender was able to deflect his effort over the crossbar.

Mapolisa then delivered the corner to find Zothwane at the near-post, but his flicked header was palmed away by Sandilands.

Three minutes later it was Themba Zwane’s who got his shot on target at the other end, but his low shot did not create to many problems for Pavels Steinbors, who managed to get both hands on the ball.

Gabuza continued to trouble the Sundowns defence with his running and in the 79th minute it took a desperate tackle from Mabaso to stop him from getting his shot away when he was face-to-face with Sandilands.

In the 66th minute Julies failed to test the goalkeeper after showing good skills to beat two defenders, while Laffour also shot wide after a good run from the right a minute later.

Sundowns were made to pay for the missed chances in the first minute of added time when Thanduyise Khuboni buried his shot from the spot after Arrows had been awarded a penalty for a foul on Gabuza by Tebogo Langerman.

Lamontville Golden Arrows (0) 1 (Khuboni 90 +1’, pen)

Mamelodi Sundowns (0) 0

Lamontville Golden Arrows: Steinbors, Tom, Zwane, Bilankulu, Krjauklis, Nene, Gabuza, Khuboni, Zothwane (Shange 70’), Smith (Sheppard 76’), Mapolisa (Sekgobela 88’)

Mamelodi Sundowns: Sandilands, Mabaso, Masenamela, Daniels, Mwanjale, Nyandoro, Laffor, Zwane, Julies (Langerman 71’), Modise, Baffour (Nyatama 86’)