Absa Premiership
Result: Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 Maritzburg United
Date: 13 December 2017
Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Percy Tau's second-half strike was enough to hand Mamelodi Sundowns a 1-0 win over Maritzburg United on Wednesday evening. View The PSL Table Maritzburg capitalised on a defensive lapse and Lebohang Maboe surged into the box, but his venomous shot pushed over the bar by Denis Onyango in the 15th minute. Percy Tau was causing the Team of Choice all sorts of trouble as he was brought down just outside the box in the 28th minute. The front man got up and took the free-kick, which was bravely headed clear of danger by Bevan Fransman off the line. Sundowns were on the attack and a loose ball fell for Hlompo Kekana, whose wild volley sailed over the crossbar with 15 minutes remaining in the half. Kekana had another shot from 25-yards out, this time a better one, that forced Richard Ofori down to his left to make a great save and keep the scores level at 0-0 in the 37th minute. That proved to be the final chance of the half as the sides went into the break scoreless. Maritzburg almost broke the deadlock in the 49th minute as Evans Rusike found himself through on goal but his attempt was brilliantly saved by Onyango in an one-on-one situation. Tau threatened again in the 58th minute with a shot from range but the forward's effort went just wide of the upright, with the game opening up. Three minutes later, Oupa Manyisa also tried his luck from a long distance only for his effort to be saved by a low dive from Ofori, who was being kept busy. The deadlock was finally broken in the 63rd minute when Kekana played Tau through on goal, with the latter sliding the ball past Ofori to give Sundowns a 1-0 lead. With the visitors pushing for an equaliser, Pitso Mosimane responded by introducing Anele Ngcongca and Wayne Arendse for the closing stages of the second half. Maritzburg thought they had equalised after a free-kick into the box fell kindly for Pogiso Sanoka who tucked the ball home in the six-yard box, but he was denied by the offside flag with five minutes remaining. The hosts managed to hold on for yet another hard-fought victory as they extended their lead at the top of the standings to five points. View The PSL Results Here's how they lined up: Sundowns: 14. Onyango, 4. Langerman, 29. Soumahoro, 27. Morena (Ngcongca 87'), 32. Madisha, 7. Manyisa, 8. Kekana, 13. Mabunda, 11. Vilakazi (Zakri 56'), 18. Zwane (Arendse 87'), 22. Tau. Maritzburg: 31. Ofori, 25. Xulu, 13. Makaringe , 15. Maboe, 16. Fransman, 22. Mokate (Shandu 46'), 19. Rusike, 3. Sanoka, 2. Onyango (Feliccia 76'), 8. Ndlovu, 29. Mekoa (Kunene 76').
