Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Absa Premiership: PSL results and latest PSL log 13 December 2017
Contrasting fortunes for the Pretoria sides.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns stretched their lead at the top of the log when they defeated Maritzburg United 1-0 on Wednesday.
Maritzburg were the first to threaten goal in the 16th minute as Dennis Onyango tipped a venomous shot over the bar.
Percy Tau came even closer 20 minutes later when he beat the keeper but failed to make anything of his chance after taking one too many chances. Soon after, it was captain Hlompo Kekana, with a trademark long-range effort which would have put Sundowns ahead if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Richard Ofori stretching himself out to make the save.
The teams went into halftime without breaking the deadlock and in the second half, it was again the visitors who started the brighter of the two with star forward Evan Rusike coming close to scoring but failing to release a shot, thanks to some desperate scrambling from Sundowns.
After spending a fair amount of time on the turf due to some harsh challenges from the Maritzburg side, Tau managed to break away from the attentions of the defence, connecting with a well-placed pass from Kekana and punting one past Ofori to open the scoring in the 64th minute.
Despite the visitors’ efforts to draw level, Pitso Mosimane’s men held on to stretch their unbeaten run to six, making this their fifth win in the period.
The other Pretoria side in action on the night Supersport United were not as lucky as they could not recover from a first half setback as Free State Stars took an early lead at Goble Park through former Kaizer Chiefs striker, Siphelele Mthembu.
Eric Tinkler’s men were handed a one-man advantage when Patrick Phungwayo was sent off in the 67th minute and they dominated much of the second half in trying to wrestle back the initiative but to no avail as Stars bounced back from their heavy defeat on the weekend to win 1-0.
Latest PSL log
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 25 |
| 2 | Orlando Pirates | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 20 |
| 3 | Kaizer Chiefs | 14 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | Bloemfontein Celtic | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 19 |
| 5 | Chippa United | 14 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 19 |
| 6 | Free State Stars | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 19 |
| 7 | Baroka FC | 14 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 19 |
| 8 | Cape Town City FC | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 18 |
| 9 | Maritzburg United | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
| 10 | Golden Arrows | 14 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 17 |
| 11 | SuperSport United | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 15 |
| 12 | AmaZulu FC | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 15 |
| 13 | Ajax Cape Town | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 13 |
| 14 | Polokwane City | 13 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 17 | -4 | 12 |
| 15 | Platinum Stars | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 15 | -7 | 12 |
| 16 | Bidvest Wits | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 16 | -9 | 11 |
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