Sundowns thrash hapless Pirates in ‘beer cup’ final

Putting aside all the gimmicks and nonsensical penalty shoot-outs to decide third and fourth place, on the football pitch Mamelodi Sundowns once again flexed their considerable muscles.

The Brazilians crushed Orlando Pirates 4-0 to lift the Carling Black Label Cup in front of a lively crowd at FNB Stadium on Saturday through first half goals by Sphelele Mkhulise, Grant Kekana and Cassius Mailula.

Mailula completed his brace and the rout in the second half.

With this comprehensive victory, Sundowns have now scored 15 goals in their last four completed matches against AmaZulu (3-0), Royal AM (3-0), Maritzburg United (5-0) and they are yet to concede.

For Pirates, even though this was a friendly match, coach José Riveiro will be concerned as they look to have gone off the boil a little bit over the past few matches with uninspiring performances.

The other reason Pirates struggled was that Riveiro started the second match with Miguel Timm and Ben Motshwari in the heart of the midfield and they started in the semifinal win over Kaizer Chiefs earlier in the day.

Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena rested Andile Jali, Bongani Zungu and Themba Zwane from his starting line-up for fresher Sipho Mbule, Teboho Mokoena and Lebohang Maboe.

They have not seen the last of each other as they will meet again in what is expected to be an exciting DStv Premiership clash on New Year’s Eve at Loftus after the FIFA World Cup break.

Sundowns settled first in the match and Bradley Ralani was the first to call Pirates goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane to action with a snap shot after a neat attacking move on the edge of the box.

Pirates suffered a massive blow after 21 minutes when defender Tapelo Xoki was shown red by referee Abongile Tom for an unsporting tackle on exciting Sundowns attacker Haashim Domingo.

The tackle on Domingo was so serious he was stretchered off the field to be replaced by Mailula who went on to stamp his authority on this match with a notable contribution and goal.

Pirates were punished almost immediately for their numerical inferiority when Mkhulise broke free to connect with a defence-splitting pass from the midfield and beat Mpontshane.

It was after the half-hour mark when stylish midfielder Kekana tapped home from close range after he received a pass from inside the penalty box from Aubrey Modiba as they began to tighten their grip on proceedings.

The departure of Xoki left the Pirates defence in complete tatters and they were punished again a few minutes later when substitute Mailula found the back of the net to increase their lead to 3-0 and effectively end this as a contest.

Any hopes of Pirates launching a late comeback were dashed after 66 minutes when Mailula put the ball beyond the outstretched hands of Mpontshane for his brace after he received a pass from Gaston Sirino.