History will record that Mamelodi Sundowns finally broke their cup final jinx with a comprehensive 3-1 win against Kaizer Chiefs in Durban last night. But it is Denis Onyango's name that will echo into South African footballing eternity.
While the game was sealed with goals from Leonardo Castro, Thabo Nthethe and Hlompho Kekana, Onyango's two penalty saves decided the fate of the game.
Nthethe gifted Chiefs the penalties through a foul on Bernard Parker and a handball in the 61st and 74th minutes, but Siphiwe Tshabalala and Camaldine Abraw had their efforts saved by the brilliant Onyango.
It was a humbling of huge proportions for a Chiefs side that had known only one result at this stage against the Brazilians, dating to the 90s when their dominance of the Pretoria side in finals started.
"It's painful to lose two finals in a row," Chiefs coach Steve Komphela told TV interviewers.
"Records will show that we lost 3-1, but they won't say that we missed two penalties. We have to regroup quickly and focus on another big game on Saturday [against Wits]."
For Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane it was not only a celebration for ending the Chiefs hoodoo. Victory also ensured he has now won all domestic trophies on offer, the only coach to achieve this.
"One of my players spoke in the dressing room that there was a myth about Teko [Modise] ... that every team he plays for never wins things. That was proven incorrect. Now there was another myth that we don't beat Chiefs in a final, but we did it. That myth is gone," Mosimane said.
Chiefs' initial frustration in the first half may have been due to a fifth minute goal that Castro found after their back four were caught sleeping.
After a sustained early attack, Tebogo Langerman glided deep into Chiefs' half before unloading a teasing cross. Khama Billat laid on the assist for Castro to bury it with a rather untidy header.
The goal came against the run of play but it was a harbinger of the difficulties Chiefs faced at the hands of Billiat and Keagan Dolly.
Sundowns took a decisive grip on the game early in the second half when Nthethe powered a header past Brilliant Khuzwayo. Komphela made a triple subsitution a minute later, but his cause was not helped by those two missed penalties.
Onyango ends Chiefs hoodoo
History will record that Mamelodi Sundowns finally broke their cup final jinx with a comprehensive 3-1 win against Kaizer Chiefs in Durban last night. But it is Denis Onyango's name that will echo into South African footballing eternity.
While the game was sealed with goals from Leonardo Castro, Thabo Nthethe and Hlompho Kekana, Onyango's two penalty saves decided the fate of the game.
Nthethe gifted Chiefs the penalties through a foul on Bernard Parker and a handball in the 61st and 74th minutes, but Siphiwe Tshabalala and Camaldine Abraw had their efforts saved by the brilliant Onyango.
It was a humbling of huge proportions for a Chiefs side that had known only one result at this stage against the Brazilians, dating to the 90s when their dominance of the Pretoria side in finals started.
"It's painful to lose two finals in a row," Chiefs coach Steve Komphela told TV interviewers.
"Records will show that we lost 3-1, but they won't say that we missed two penalties. We have to regroup quickly and focus on another big game on Saturday [against Wits]."
For Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane it was not only a celebration for ending the Chiefs hoodoo. Victory also ensured he has now won all domestic trophies on offer, the only coach to achieve this.
"One of my players spoke in the dressing room that there was a myth about Teko [Modise] ... that every team he plays for never wins things. That was proven incorrect. Now there was another myth that we don't beat Chiefs in a final, but we did it. That myth is gone," Mosimane said.
Chiefs' initial frustration in the first half may have been due to a fifth minute goal that Castro found after their back four were caught sleeping.
After a sustained early attack, Tebogo Langerman glided deep into Chiefs' half before unloading a teasing cross. Khama Billat laid on the assist for Castro to bury it with a rather untidy header.
The goal came against the run of play but it was a harbinger of the difficulties Chiefs faced at the hands of Billiat and Keagan Dolly.
Sundowns took a decisive grip on the game early in the second half when Nthethe powered a header past Brilliant Khuzwayo. Komphela made a triple subsitution a minute later, but his cause was not helped by those two missed penalties.
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