Going from bad to worse, a shambolic Mamelodi Sundowns conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes and crashed to their second defeat against Ajax Cape Town within the space of a week on Saturday night.
If the penalty shootout loss in the semifinal of the Telkom Knockout at Olympia Park was acutely frustrating for the Premier League champions, the 2-1 debacle at a stunned Super Stadium was nothing less than embarrassing.
Looking disjointed and dispirited, the Brazilians gained a fortuitous lead in the 73rd minute through the enigmatic Lerato Chabangu — then gave away unecessary free-kicks in the 83rd and 93rd minutes from which goals by Brett Evans and Nathan Paulse turned the game on its head.
But if the Sundowns’ players seemed to lose their heads against the composed, hard-working and relatively youthful Ajax, it was no less than coach Gordon Igesund, who under the strain of being humiliated by his previous club went through what is commonly known as ”losing the plot”.
Igesund castigated and insulted the referee and his assistants for awarding Ajax the two free-kicks from which their goals were scored, yet TV replays after the match showed the relevent decisions were correct and first Benson Mhlongo and then Godfrey Sapula had committed unecessary and ultimately costly indiscretions.
Igesund also erred badly for a number of reasons when he substituted defender Oscar Ntwagae for forward Jose Torrealba at a point when Sundowns were still leading 1-0, with fate often dealing unkindly to those who retreat into a defensive soccer mould.
And the Sundowns coach must, in any case, have been watching another game for substituting the articulate Torrealba, who had been performing creditably, instead of the conspicuously off-form and erratic Chabangu, who did little right in the match apart from scoring his one sweetly-timed goal.
It was said at the start of Sundowns’ campaign to defend their League championship that the Brazilians had so many stars they would not know what to do with them.
But on the evidence of Saturday’s desultory display, the only player Sundowns have at the moment deserving of a star rating is goalkeeper Calvin Marlin, who made four superlative saves and rescued the Brazilians from even more severe punishment.
”It was a smash-and-grab victory at the end,” said Ajax coach Muhsin Ertugral, ”but I think we deserved it.” – Sapa