Mamelodi Sundowns continued to toy with Kaizer Chiefs, completing a first double over Amakhosi in league encounters in a 2022-2023 campaign that is proving to be a huge nightmare and embarrassment for the Soweto giants.

The 1-0 win saw Sundowns also break their own record achieved in 2007 of 11 successive league wins in the PSL era, with this one the 12th, stretching their lead on top of the DStv Premiership to 17 points after 18 matches.

Neo Maema scored the winning goal for the Brazilians in the 20th minute, finishing a move that involved a number of Sundowns players down the right flank where the young Chiefs midfielder Samkelo Zwane and left-back Sifiso Hlanti had their hands full.

Maema’s goal came when Sundowns had already missed a couple of sitters in a game where their attacking maestro Themba Zwane orchestrated most of the visitors’ moves going forward.

But Chiefs had a couple of chances of their own, even if they were not on target which didn’t come because they were playing coherent football. Sundowns made a lot of mistakes in their own half where they were trying to build all their moves from their birthday boy and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane recognised that (Samkelo) Zwane was perhaps the weakest link  in their midfield and replaced him with an experienced Siyethemba Sithebe at the start of the second half. Chiefs fans also showed their dismay over their top scorer Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana whose first touch was awful in the couple of openings he had.

Sundowns maintained their dominance of the ball and clear chances created in the second period and were unlucky not to double their lead when their striker Cassius Mailula sliced through the Chiefs defence but shot wide after benefiting from yet another Zwane pass.

The Brazilians beat Chiefs 4-0 in the corresponding fixture in August and the 1-0 scoreline in this tie was mainly down to Rulan Mokwena’s charges not taking advantage of the chances they had in a match in which only had one shot, that was taken by Maema, on target. 

Chiefs finished the match much better than Sundowns though they were still shorn of confidence and skills to trouble a Brazilian side that knows how to manage the game when they’re in the lead.  

That Sundowns can beat Chiefs at a canter shows how much the pendulum has swung in South African football where the Brazilians are on course to win a sixth successive league title — a gong Chiefs last won in 2015.