Durban — Peter Shalulile scored a 90th minute winner as Mamelodi Sundowns claimed a 1-0 victory over Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Wednesday night.
Shalulile notched up his fifth goal of the season as he headed in the winner from close range in the dying minutes of the match to send Sundowns to the top of the DStv Premiership log.
A Sundowns side looking to get back their groove and find their winning stride took their star-studded armoury down to a cold Gqeberha to take on a struggling Chilli Boys side.
The Brazilians technical team sought to fix the errors of the last match as they re-introduced chief playmaker Themba Zwane into the starting 11 with the hope breaking down a reinforced Chippa rearguard.
For Chippa Head Coach Daine Klate, it was all about shutting down potential passing channels for the defending champions as he set up his side in a 4-5-1 formation, with three defensive midfielders guarding the backline.
Beginning the match with a high tempo and trying to grab an early goal would've been on the minds of Sundowns and it showed as they tested Chippa goalkeeper Lloyd Kazapiwa three times in the opening 15 minutes, the best of them falling to Tebogo Mokoena.
The 24 year old took on the "free-role" duties handed to him as he burst through the Chippa defense, but his attempted pull back for Peter Shalulile was deflected away by Kazapiwa and with the defense clearing after him.
The second stanza of this encounter produced one the most dominant performances we've seen in recent years as Sundowns controlled 81% of the ball possession with Chippa not managing a single shot at Ronwen Williams' goal.
IOL Sport