Malibongwe Mdletshe at Mpumalanga Stadium
HAMMARSDALE: A calm Wednesday evening in Hammarsdale, halfway between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, Mpumalanga Stadium was the centre of the party as Lamontville Golden Arrows hosted Mamelodi Sundowns with a double edged mission: avenge the recent 4-0 humiliation, and welcome home the prodigal son, coach Manqoba Mngqithi.
In the end, it ended 1-1 for a share of the spoils.
It was Mngqithi’s first match after his second return to Arrows for his third stint with the club. The fact that he was fired from the visiting team during the festive season, evoking divided opinions, would no doubt add extra spice to the curry.
#Panenka slowly becoming the merger of star penalties as #Ribeiro pulls another one against Watenga to get Sundowns level with Arrows at half time.
And so Arrows took the match to Sundowns as expected, with veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango making the first save when he knocked the ball out for a corner.
Angelo van Rooi was a nuisance to Sundowns defenders, especially Malibongwe Khoza, who operated from the right side of Brazilians’ three-man defence.
It was one of Van Rooi’s waltzing moves towards the Sundowns’ goal that got Khoza to be the first player to see his name on referee Tshidiso Mkhwanazi’s holy books with a yellow card.
Every time Van Rooi combined with Nduduzo Sibiya, it would almost look like the home side were matching the visitors.
So it was no surprise when Abafana Bes’thende took the lead with a superb Keenan Phillips header, which bounced from the ground up to the roof of the net, leaving Onyango a beaten man.
Like a player scoring against his former side, Mngqithi’s reaction to that goal was nothing less of a poker face, leaving the rest of the bench to uncontrollable jubilations.
Arrows were not going to have it that easy, though, with the league’s leading goal-scorer, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, once again showing signs of his best mood and buoyed by the energetic crowd.
The Brazilian showed his dangerous side yet again, looping the ball from the centre after noticing Arrows goalkeeper Isima Watenga out of goal.
Watenga recovered to make the save, but he was not going to deny Ribeiro his 13th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Phillips went from hero to zero, holding Aubrey Modiba’s cross in the box.
That would send the sides to halftime at 1-1.
The second half would see Arrows defending for the whole 45 minutes, with Watenga himself matching play with excellent saves to deny Ribeiro and Co.
Arrows were also aided by lineman, who wrongfully judged Peter Shalulile offside at some point.
And that is how the homecoming party went, with Sundowns fans staying behind to chant Ribeiro's name repeatedly.
Wednesday’s Premiership Results
Cape Town City 1-1 TS Galaxy
Richards Bay 2-1 Sekhukhune United
Golden Arrows 1-1 Mamelodi Sundowns
SuperSport United 0-0 AmaZulu
Chippa United 0-1 Orlando Pirates