Iqraam Rayners and Lucas Ribeiro combined once again to hand Mamelodi Sundowns a victory over Kaizer Chiefs in what was their third win over the Glamour Boys this season.
Ribeiro was the match winner as Sundowns beat Chiefs 1-0 at a sold-out Lucas Moripa Stadium on Saturday to open an 18-point lead over second-placed Orlando Pirates.
The killer blow arrived in the 41st minute when Rayners beat the offside trap to square the ball to Ribeiro and the Brazilian playmaker slammed the ball into the roof of the net for what turned out to be the only goal of the contest.
Chiefs suffered an early blow when striker Tashreeq Morris was stretchered off with an injury in the 22nd minute to be replaced by the returning Ashley Du Preez.
That came after Chiefs nearly broke the deadlock when Mduduzi Shabalala received a great pass from Reeve Frosler’s cut-back but he fired just over the bar in the 17th minute.
Ribeiro & Rayners combine to score
Pule Mmodi also had a chance for Chiefs in the 33rd minute but his attempt went wide while new signing Glody Lilepo showed good speed and energy on the right wing for the Glamour Boys.
However, Chiefs would live to regret the missed opportunities when Rayners beat the offside trap and squared back the ball to an on-rushing Ribeiro and the league’s leading scorer fired home a first-time shot on his left foot giving Bruce Bvuma no chance.
That is how it stayed at the break but Chiefs should have equalised three minutes upon resumption after Shabalala almost chipped the ball over Jody February in the Sundowns goal but failed in his attempts.
After that, the hosts almost scored from a counter attack when Lucas Suarez looked to slip a ball through to Peter Shalulile but the pass could reach the striker.
Rayners and Ribeiro then combined again in the 51st minute, the striker setting up the playmaker on the edge of the box, but the Brazilian's curling effort went wide.
Can anyone catch Sundowns?
Teboho Mokoena then drew out double saves from Bvuma with a strike inside the box while Mmodi and Shabalala also had chances to score and missed.
Sundowns had the final real chance of the game when Rayners was found on the edge of the box by Ribeiro. He turned to take a shot but his strike went over the bar.
It was the third time Sundowns were beating Chiefs this season, having silenced them 2-1 in the PSL in September, before a 4-0 thrashing in the Telkom Knockout in November, and have now gone 12 matches without losing to the Soweto giants, who last secured a win over them in April 2021.
Victory sees Sundowns move to 54 points from 20 matches, 18 more than second-placed Orlando Pirates, who have five games in hand, including Saturday’s match away to Marumo Gallants.
Meanwhile, Chiefs slipped to eighth on the log with 25 points from 19 matches after back-to-back league defeats.
