The fat lady might not be singing, but by all rational and logical assumptions Mamelodi Sundowns are the Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions for the 2005/06 season.
In order to prevent this near-certainty from materialising after a fateful two-game showdown on Wednesday night between title contenders Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, the Buccaneers need to beat the Brazilians by six goals when the teams meet in the last game of the season on Saturday May 13.
And there is seemingly as much chance of this happening as a spacecraft from Jupiter landing on Earth at the same time.
After Sundowns staged a stirring fightback on Wednesday at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium to beat Classic 3-1 and close rivals Orlando Pirates drew 1-1 with a resourceful Bush Bucks at the East London Stadium, Sundowns have a three-point advantage at the top of the log going into the final fixture.
And with a superior goal difference that stands at 11 goals at this juncture, it would take a six-goal victory for Pirates over Sundowns to overturn the position and produce the greatest turnaround in the history of South African professional soccer.
The tense crowd at the Super Stadium was stunned into silence as relegation-threatened Classic led Sundowns 1-0 at half-time against the run of play.
But Sundowns showed their character by overcoming the demotivating first-half blow of being deprived of what seemed a legitimate penalty.
A 15-minute scoring burst shortly after the interval produced pedigreed goals from substitute Sandile Ndlovu, Ezrom Nyandoro and Jose Torrealba.
In the process, Sundowns are poised to end a five-year PSL title drought after they had set a record at the start of the millennium by winning three successive championships.
In contrast to the decisive turn taken in the championship race, Wednesday’s results have left the PSL relegation issue hanging on a tightrope — with Dynamos, Classic, a luckless Bush Bucks and Free State Stars all in dire danger. — Sapa