A valiant effort wasn’t enough for Durban City FC as we were beaten 3-1 by Mamelodi Sundowns in a Betway Premiership match at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday night.
City gave a good account but were punished by some clinical finishing from the league champions.
The KwaZulu-Natal side certainly got off to a fantastic start – taking the lead in the 13th minute through a pin-point header from Joslin Kamatuka, the striker glancing an arrowing header in at the far post, following a corner from Haashim Domingo.
The lead though was only to last six minutes as Sundowns hit back through Marcello Allende, whose shot deflected off a defender and landed inside far post.
The Tshwane side then took the lead for the first time, when following a swift counter attack, Tashreeq Matthews went clean through on goal and finished with a composed effort.
Durban City refused to let the setback get them down for long and were given the chance to claw back into the game just before the interval after Downs defender Malibongwe Khoza brought down Trevor Mokwena in the box, and a spot kick was awarded.
But unfortunately the equaliser was not to follow as home keeper Ronwen Williams dived down quickly to turn Kamatuka’s penalty around the post.
Durban City started the second half with positive intent, though it was Sundowns who had the next clear chance when Matthews cut through the middle of the City defence and looked set to score…until Keet did brilliantly to rush off his line and make a fine reflex save.
There however unfortunately wasn’t much the experienced shot-stopper could do when Iqraam Rayners pulled the trigger with a powerful low drive into the bottom corner after running onto a defence-splitting pass in the 66th minute.
The Citizens tried after that to fight back into the match – showing good energy and endeavour, but struggled to break down a resolute Brazilians defence.
Next up for coach Gavin Hunt and his men is an away clash against Stellenbosch FC on Wednesday evening.
