ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Pretoria | Thursday 8.00am.
Sundowns ……… (1) 1 (Alain Amougou 10)
Santos ……….. (1) 1 (Duncan Crowie 3)
SO the seemingly invincible Castle Premiership pacesetters Sundowns are human after all! Okay, they did not lose on Wednesday night, but no one expected mid-table Santos to hold the star-studded squad.
It could have been even more disappointing for the expensively-assembled home side as goalkeeper John Tlale produced superb first-half saves to foil Zimbabwean John Mbidzo and former Bafana Bafana defender Edries Burton.
Long-serving Duncan Crowie put the Cape club ahead after only three minutes while a host of defenders were guilty of ball watching and dreadlocked Alain Amougou levelled with 10 minutes gone.
Sundowns coach Paul Dolezar made several changes to no avail and their lead over the pack was trimmed to eight points although they have three matches in hand on second-placed Kaizer Chiefs.
Emeka Mamale from the Democratic Republic of Congo scored his first goal since joining Chiefs in the close season and it proved sufficient to overcome 10-man SuperSport United 1-0 at Odi Stadium.
A long pass from Gary Goldstone set Mamale in a race with Clyde Mahlangu which he won before firing past goalkeeper Paul Evans, who was sent off with 17 minutes left for tripping Siyabonga Nomvete.
Victory moved Chiefs above Manning Rangers and Classic into second place on goal difference and was another feather in the cap of under-pressure Turkish coach Muhsin Ertugral.
Orlando Pirates made it a double for the Soweto giants with a 2-1 victory over Bush Bucks at FNB Stadium through goals from Joseph Ngake and Thabo Mngomeni while Mongazi Malashe was on target for the struggling Umtata outfit.
Romanian Ted Dumitru was back on the Pirates bench after a three-week absence due to a family illness while Bucks were coached by Russian Victor Bondarenko, who was replaced by Dumitru in mid-year.