Coach David Bright and his troops can certainly draw hope from this performance, especially in the second half when they were by far the superior side and played some neat football.

And to their credit, an excellent defensive display meant that Sundowns never really looked like they would score on the night.

With the heavy winds of the last couple of days having died down just a bit for the start of the game, Sundowns were able to play their trade-mark carpet football and settled in to their rhythm early on.

Their powerful midfield, where Jorge Acuna and Learoto Chabangu were particulary prominent, bossed proceedings for the best part of half an hour, although they struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities.

Katlego Mphela enjoyed the Brazilian’s best chance in the 37 th minute when, together with Chabangu, he cut through the Santos defence before firing a shot from a tight angle into the stands.

The home side came into their own towards the end of the half, relying mainly on counter attacks, lead by the likes of Bevan Fransch, Erwin Isaacs and Eleazar Rodgers, in which they looked dangerous.

But they never really had a sniff at goal, the closest they came was in the 43 rd minute when Rodgers tried to thread Wayne Arendse through on goal, but the ball was cleared before he could get a shot on goal.

Santos started the second half in a very positive fashion and came close to scoring when Graham King was played in by an Isaacs cross, but King’s first time shot was well saved by Calvin Marlin.

A error in the Sundowns defence in the 54 th minute then saw King showing great pace to run clean through on goal.

But just as he was about to pull the trigger was impeded by Siboniso Gaxa with the referee deeming that it was a fair challenge.

The home side continued to look the more dangerous side and in the 63rd minute King had another chance, but took too long to get his shot away.

With 20 minutes to go Sundowns were nearly the recipients of a lucky goal when Mphela’s shot struck Vilakazi on the back an looped dangerously before landing on the roof of the net.

Nynadoro nearly burgled it for Sundowns with a cracking strike late on, but a fine Francis Chansa save made sure that Santos got the point they deserved.

TEAMS

Santos: Chansa, Fransch, Arendse, Gabonamong, Otieno, King, Isaacs, Ramathlakwana (Basie 51'), Macala, Rodgers (Chapman 82'), Arendse

undowns: Marlin, Johannes, Spencer, Gaxa, Lekgothoane, Nyandoro, Vilakazi (Dladla 90'), Acuna (Sheppard 59'), Chabangu, Monteiro (Ndlela 77'), Mphela

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We would love to hear from Engen Santos fans - whether it be on the current form of the
PSL side, or your own personal stories while supporting the team over the years...

Please e-mail Chantel Olivier: chantel.o@santosfc.co.za

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