Dansin’s wondergoal cancels out Shalulile’s strike as Sundowns and Pirates share spoils

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Dansin’s wondergoal cancels out Shalulile’s strike as Sundowns and Pirates share spoils

Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates played out a 1-1 draw in their highly-billed PSL clash at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday.

The first league meeting of the PSL’s two best teams of the last three years did not produce much spark although a moment of quality from a young player provided the silver lining to what was a dull encounter in Pretoria.

At a sold-out encounter, witnessed by 43,000 fans, Sundowns drew first blood through Peter Shalulile, the Namibian showing tenacity and a fighting spirit to score his 113th PSL goal after 20 minutes.

Keano Cupido dispossessed Tshepang Moremi in the middle of the pack and found Nuno Santos, the Portuguese playmaker making a run forward and squaring the ball to Arthur Sales, whose cross was met by Shalulile in the box.

Sundowns pegged back by a moment of quality

The striker fired a first-time shot directly at Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine but got a second bite of the cherry on the rebound to slot home on his weaker left foot for 1-0 and his sixth against Pirates in the league.

That saw Sundowns extend their run of scoring against Pirates to 11 straight games and from there, there was not much in terms of cutting edge in attack until a moment of brilliance brought Pirates level in the 35th minute.

From a corner, Grant Kekana headed out and the ball was met by youngster Cemran Dansin and the 20-year-old hammered in an unstoppable volley that Ronwen Williams in the Sundowns goal could only watch.

Pirates should have extended their lead on the stroke of halftime when Deon Hotto met a good ball at the back post but he could not volley home as he failed to connect well with it.

After the break, it was Pirates with the best early chances and just five minutes later, the Buccaneers should have been 2-1 up.

Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Arthur Sales

Wasted opportunity for Pirates in the second half

Against the run of play, Pirates had three players making a run towards the Sundowns goal with Lebone Seema on the ball but with Moremi free at the near post, the defender opted to shoot, seeing Williams save his effort.

Five minutes later, it was the turn of Sundowns to waste their opportunity as Khuliso Mudau brought in a ball in the box which was met by Shalulile but the striker could not find the target under a challenge from Sihle Nduli.

Pirates’ final chance of note fell to Moremi in the 72nd minute whose shot was easily gathered by Williams as both teams held firm to settle for a draw.

The results sees Pirates dislodge Kaizer Chiefs from third spot on goal difference, both sides on 19 points, although the Sea Robbers have played nine games compared to 10 for Amakhosi.

Pirates are three points behind leaders Sundowns, who have 22 points, from 11 PSL games. 

<!-- Author Start -->Joel Oliver<!-- Author End -->

Joel Oliver

Author

Joel Oliver is a seasoned multimedia sports journalist with a rich background in covering diverse football stories and events in South Africa and beyond.
His extensive coverage spans subjects touching on the PSL, with a focus on the Big Three (Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs & Mamelodi Sundowns), Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.

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