Team News
For Maritzburg United, there were some changes to the side from Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs.
Two of those alterations were forced on coach Eric Tinkler by suspensions to Siphesihle Ndlovu and Miguel Timm.
In their place were on-loan Cape Town City duo, Mpho Matsi and Allan Kateregga.
In defence, Rushine De Reuck was back from suspension and took the place of Yannick Zakri, meaning the side played with one extra defender and one less striker.
Thabiso Kutumela led the line in preference to Mohau Mokate.
For Mamelodi Sundowns, it was the typical 4-2-3-1 shape.
Rivaldo Coetzee returned to the lineup as Wayne Arendse dropped to the bench.
Emiliano Tade was given a start in attack with Anthony Laffor missing, whilst Lebohang Maboe lined up against his former club.
Sundowns Lure, then Strike
From the start of the game, Sundowns were very happy to play the game at a slow tempo, circulating possession in defence as Maritzburg stood off Coetzee and Ricardo Nascimento.
They were very patient in waiting for a forward passing line to open up, or they would look for runners in-behind against a fairly high home defensive line.
It took just a couple of minutes for an early chance as a direct pass was knocked down by Maboe to Tade, whose half-volley flashed wide of goal.
Maboe was leading the line with Tade deeper as the number ten.
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That early combination was repeated in the fifth minute as Maboe’s excellent back-heel found Tade free behind Maritzburg’s midfield, and he drilled in the opener.
The Argentine forward was back in KwaZulu-Natal and linking up with Maboe the way he did with Bongi Ntuli at AmaZulu.
Maritzburg were playing with a back-four, all looking to play narrow and block the space centrally to prevent combination play around their box.
It wasn’t working. Their defenders were being constantly pulled out of the backline by players between-the-lines as Matsi was easily bypassed as the defensive midfielder.
In attack, they were fairly lively with Kateregga cutting in from the right flank and Kutumela finding space to make runs off Nascimento.
Fortune Makaringe, who has been playing a very advanced role of late, was a danger with his dribbling and forward runs.
However, whereas Sundowns were getting joy playing early passes behind the Maritzburg defence, the home side did not have as much success with the same ploy.
Pitso Mosimane’s defensive line sat very deep, preventing much space in-behind.
After just 22 minutes, Downs doubled their lead in this way. Nascimento had time and space to pick out Gaston Sirino’s run – Siyanda Xulu had completely misjudged the offside trap, and the Uruguayan picked out Maboe to finish against his former club.
Tinkler Tinkers
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At 2-0 down, Eric Tinkler immediately readied striker Yannick Zakri to come on against his former club. Before the change could happen, the home side really should have pulled one back as Thapelo Morena’s poor header presented Makaringe with two chances in the box but Denis Onyango came to his side’s rescue with a double save.
When the change came, just 26 minutes in, Zakri replaced De Reuck.
This saw Maritzburg move to a 3-5-2 formation with Mxolisi Kunene and Bandile Shandu as wingbacks, Kateregga played centrally, and Zakri partnered Kutumela upfront.
For the next 15 minutes, the home side had a strong reaction.
First, Makaringe beat Morena on the flank and crossed for Zakri to test Onyango with a header.
Then, Morena missed a basic clearance from Makaringe’s through-ball and Zakri was presented with a one-on-one, but Onyango got a key touch to divert the chance wide.
Before the half ended, Maritzburg had another chance as Makaringe and Kutumela teed up Zakri, but he fired wide from close range.
Sundowns had a chance of their own to extend the lead as Maboe got wrong-side of Matsi and put Themba Zwane though on goal but he missed the opening.
Maritzburg Press Higher
Immediately clear in the second half was that Tinkler had told his front players to press Sundowns high up the pitch and give Nascimento and Coetzee less time on the ball.
This led to much more territory for the home side, and encouraged by some first-half chances from wide deliveries, they were crossing the ball at every chance they got.
After 55 minutes, Matsi’s struggles were put to an end as Deolin Mekoa replaced him.
By the hour mark, the home side had created one clear opening as Makaringe burst forward onto Kutumela’s superb chipped pass but could not beat Onyango, who once again saved a clear opening for the home side.
When Sirino was sent off for daring to question referee Victor Gomes with a light flick of the wrist, there was half an hour left for Downs to survive with ten men.
Coach Pitso Mosimane immediately withdrew Tade for Lyle Lakay and went to a 4-4-1 formation.
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Maboe was the furthest man forward but would drop into midfield when his side were defending to make it a 4-5-0 shape.
With target man Judas Moseamedi introduced, Maritzburg had a real aerial target in the box, but Onyango was catching everything. Well, almost everything.
When Kunene bumped him off balance on one high ball, Makaringe pounced to finish the loose ball and it was game on with around 10 minutes to play.
Sundowns had seen Zwane miss another gilt-edged chance as he fired wide when facing Richard Ofori after Nazeer Allie misjudged a high ball.
The expected siege never really arrived for the home side though as Sundowns defended very deep and very narrow and encouraged aimless crosses.
With Wayne Arendse on as an extra defender and Onyango claiming some disappointing, floated deliveries, they saw out the game relatively comfortably.
Summary
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This was a massive result for Sundowns on the road.
The away side threatened with longer passes in-behind and with Maboe and Tade linking up so well.
The home side’s backline was exposed in the first 25 minutes. A tactical change by Tinkler turned the tide somewhat, but it was aided by Morena having his poorest game defensively in months.
Several chances to go into the break just one goal behind were spurned.
In the second half, Sundowns were under greater pressure but had their goalkeeper in prime form to make big saves and relieve pressure by catching crosses.
The home side became too predictable, whilst also being fortunate that Zwane was in a wasteful mood as he missed two great openings to kill the game completely.
This was a victory for experience and know-how against a team who are in a desperate situation, which showed in their inefficient crossing strategy.
Even when Maritzburg pushed Xulu up front for the final ten minutes, their deliveries were poor.
They are not usually a crossing side and they diverted too far from their usual style of play in chasing this game.
The individual displays of Maboe and Onyango also had a big say in where the three points ended up.
Sundowns move three points clear at the top of the log with seven games to go.
