By REGINALD KANYANE
20 May 2025- Mamelodi Sundowns concluded their league campaign with a 2-0 victory on Sunday night when they hosted Magesi FC at Loftus Versfeld. Lucas Ribeiro was the hero of the night as his brace saw the team record their 15th victory in their backyard.
It only took four minutes for Masandawana to break the deadlock. It came through Arthur Sales’ awareness inside the area, who delivered it to Iqraam Rayners. With a drop of a shoulder, Rayners then handed it to Ribeiro, who only flicked it towards the goal with a backheel pass.
A few minutes later, Ribeiro almost made it two for his side. The ball came from Aubrey Modiba from a tight angle on the left flank. He crossed it to Ribeiro, whose shot deflected and went slightly wide.
In the 18th minute, Rayners drove the ball to the danger zone and shot it, but the shot was cleared by the goalkeeper with his feet. Four minutes later, a second goal was witnessed at Loftus Versfeld, and it was Ribeiro again.
After being awarded a free-kick just a short distance from the area, Marcelo Allende handed the ball to Ribeiro. From range, Ribeiro shattered the net to double the advantage for Downs.
Another set-piece almost saw the Brazilians pulling a third goal before the break. Teboho Mokoena had taken the free-kick, which he fired onto the target from range.
The goalkeeper, however, with his feet again and his body on the ground, kicked the ball away. Magesi tried to take the ball to Downs’ half, but the rear-guard of coach Miguel Cardoso was steadfast and cleared any chances to deny them a goal.
This saw the hosts head to the interval with a two-goal advantage.
The Magesi side witnessed in the second stanza looked more threatening, and they were attacking the ball. They opened the last 45 minutes of the game by taking the ball to the danger zone.
Luckily, Ronwen Williams sniffed the danger and quickly moved from his mark to snatch the ball. For a while, the Brazilians remained patient in their half, until Modiba made an interception, then a clever defence-splitting pass to Rayners, who fired a shot, but the keeper caught it.
A mistake was made by the Downs defence near the area towards the end of the encounter, but Malibongwe Khoza managed to clear the danger away to maintain the clean sheet.
Sales came again with a big chance after Peter Shalulile handed him the ball on the right flank. His shot was smacked away to deny him his first goal of the night.
It’s the visitors who concluded the match with an attempt, but Khoza, again, cleared the ball away, this time, with his chest, then a kick. In the end, Masandawana collected the maximum points and managed to maintain a clean sheet.
Sundowns finished their Betway Premiership campaign with a perfect home record, defeating Magesi 2-0 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Sunday.
The league champions won all fourteen of their league home games this season in the process of bagging their 24th win of their Betway Premiership campaign.
The victory means Masandawana have broken the record for the most wins in a 34-game season in a campaign of just 28 games. The record was held by Manning Rangers with 23 wins in the 1996/97 season, and equalled by Kaizer Chiefs in the 1998/99 season and Sundowns in the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons.
The Guardian 