By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns were held to a 1–1 draw by Orlando Pirates at Loftus Versfeld stadium, bringing their perfect home run to an end.
The two sides also drew 1-1 in each of their MTN8 semifinals in August and look as if the are going to go head-to-head in a closely contested season.
“I think the result is quite fair, considering what we saw, the more dominant Sundowns, and Pirates playing as we had seen from them in their previous matches, “said Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso after the game.
“Third match, third draw, same result. It means that the teams are very equal in the moment. They play differently, but they have their capacities and we’ll have for sure a competition this season.
“I remember I predicted at the PSL launch event that this championship will have a different story,” added Cardoso.
Pirates been runners-up to Sundowns in the last three campaigns – 12 points behind last season in a 28-game campaign but a record-breaking 23 points adrift in 2024 and in 2023 Sundowns finished 16 points clear of the Buccaneers.
Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou said, “We started slowly, Sundowns put us in trouble in terms of building, they managed to find the free player in the middle,” said Ouaddou.
“We had a problem with (Marcelo) Allende, Nuno Santos, (Bathusi) Aubaas in the middle, because they were trying to overload, which we had prepared for, but I thought that we were not aggressive enough to prevent them from the building.
“But we made some changes in order to be more dangerous in the transitions. And it worked because we created the most chances and I was so happy about the second half, the way that we played and how we respected the game plan.
‘To be honest, I think it’s a game that we should have won regarding the number of chances that we have created. And today, I think, to be honest, it should be a victory for Orlando Pirates,” Ouaddou said.
“But let’s go home with this point. Let’s not be too tough on our boys. They did well. And let’s go to fight for the next games that we had in hand and let’s go to take the lead of this league,” he added.
Sundowns remain top of the PSL table with 22 points from 11 matches, but the gap is narrowing.
Sekhukhune United sit just two points behind, while Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs are locked on 19 points in third and fourth, respectively, keeping the title race finely balanced.
Meanwhile Chippa United’s woes in the Betway Premiership continued on Saturday evening when they were handed a 3-0 beating by AmaZulu FC at the Buffalo City Stadium.
Elsewhere Richards Bay took advantage of adverse weather conditions as they battled back from behind to clinch a 1-1 draw with Polokwane City at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.