Sundowns were fortunate to gain maximum points when they beat Santos 2-0 in a Castle Premier League game played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night.
Sundowns led 1-0 at the break.
Two glaring mistakes by rookie Santos goalkeeper Ryan Wuest cost Santos dearly. The first goal came in the 42nd minute when Clement Mazibuko’s free kick from 35m went into the top corner of the goal.
In the 88th minute, substitute Siaka Tiene ran down the right, cut in and kicked the ball under Wuest’s body.
The game started 22 minutes late because the crowd was still queueing, but once it started was played at a furious pace.
The visitors were quick in their tackles and did not allow Santos room to think, but Santos were more dangerous on attack when their passing was more slick.
Craig Biamchi was given the job of sticking to Jean-Marc Ithier and he and Neil Winstanley did well to contain the striker’s runs.
The visitors become frustrated and two of their players were shown yellow cards as the match threatened to boil over.
Brian Baloyi brought off an excellent diving save in 69th minute when he expertly saved Thembile Kanono’s blistering shot to keep his team ahead.
Daniel Mudau missed an open goal after beating the offside trap and Wuest came out of his goal only to see the shot go narrowly wide. — Sapa