What a surprise! After being outplayed and outmanouevred in the first half of their CAF Confederation Cup game against the Democratic Republic of Congo’s TP Mazembe at Loftus on Saturday night and trailing 2-0 at the interval, PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns stormed back and snatched a 3-2 victory from the jaws of defeat with a goal 17 seconds beyond the referee’s three minutes of optional time.
Fittingly, under the circumstances, it was the wily Surprise Moriri who scored the winning goal after an intricate inter-passing movement that bewildered the Mazembe defence.
It was an outcome that seemed beyond the realms of possibility at halftime after Mazembe’s diminutive Mabi Mputu, dubbed Mighty Mouse, had torn the Sundowns’ defence to shreds while scoring stunning goals in the 20th and 30th minutes.
And, the DRC team looked so superior in the opening period that they might easily have led by three or four goals.
But it was a bewildering turnaround after the interval, with Sundowns replacing an innocuous Tyren Arendse with two-metre tall Lungisani Ndlela and settling down to play their characteristic short-passing possession football.
And the reward for this show of resillience was three stunning goals, with talented Shakes Ngwenya reducing the deficit in the 57th minute with a header into the roof of the net following an accurate cross from Dillon Sheppard.
Then it was Zimbabwean international midfielder Ezrom Nyandoro who provided the magic five minutes later with a thunderous 25m shot that rocketed into the roof of the net.
The goal deluge was completed by Moriri, who had experienced a relatively uneventful game, in what was effectively the 94th minute of play.
Mazembe players slumped to the turf, some shedding tears after the turnaround in fortunes.
But Sundowns deserved the three valuable points in the round robin segment of the tournament by virtue of being deprived of a legitimate penalty in the 72nd minute when Mazembe goalkeeper Mpina Ikamba lost possession, panicked and then tackled Ndlela from behind in a despairing effort that warranted at least a yellow card.
Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund sat on the bench at the start of the second half as though genuflecting to a mystical source to pull Sundowns out of a situation where a loss at home might have proved a terminal affliction in this competition. – Sapa