Mamelodi Sundowns face a difficult task in their MTN8 semi-final after Lamontville Golden Arrows secured a 1-0 first-leg victory at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday.
Junior Dion’s first-half strike gave Abafana Bes'thende a crucial advantage heading into next weekend’s return leg in Umlazi to determine who faces Orlando Pirates or Sekhukhune United in the final.
Sundowns dominated possession for long periods, but struggled to convert their control into clear-cut chances. Arrows remained disciplined throughout and looked dangerous on the counter.
Miguel Cardoso made several changes to his starting XI, giving opportunities to players who have not been regular starters in the opening weeks of the season.
The Brazilians showed flashes of attacking promise during the opening 45 minutes, but their reworked defence eventually paid the price for a lapse in concentration. Arrows needed just one opening to punish them.
That moment arrived in the 38th minute when Khulekani Shezi spotted Dion’s run behind the Sundowns defence. The right-back’s through ball released the Arrows striker, who raced into the box before calmly placing his finish beyond the advancing Ricardo Goss.
Dion, who finished last season as the Betway Premiership’s leading scorer, made no mistake with his only clear opportunity of the first half. The goal gave Arrows a lead they were determined to protect heading into the interval.
Cardoso responded at half-time by introducing two of his more established attacking options in Bryan Lunga and Tashreeq Matthews. Whilst the changes increased the hosts' quality upfront, the overall pattern of the match remained largely unchanged.
Sundowns continued to dictate possession and push Arrows deeper, but Pitso Dladla’s side remained compact and looked to exploit the spaces left behind by the Brazilians.
For all their dominance of the ball, Sundowns could not find the equaliser.
Reflecting on the result, Cardoso pointed to an extended stoppage following an injury to the Arrows goalkeeper as a key turning point in his team's momentum.
"I think we had a good start until the substitution of their goalkeeper, and that took us off our rhythm because it took about seven minutes to make the substitution," Cardoso told SuperSport TV. "Then we slept until half-time.
The Portuguese coach was particularly frustrated by the manner in which Sundowns conceded, drawing comparisons to the goal they allowed Kaizer Chiefs to score in their recent Betway Premiership encounter.
"It’s a similar mistake to the one we made against Kaizer Chiefs, where we were not properly positioned in the rest defence and then we suffered a goal," he said. "It’s time to learn from these things, because we can’t dominate the game and suffer the same problem."
Despite the setback, Cardoso refused to treat the first-leg result as the end of the tie, pointing out that his side still have another 90 minutes to turn things around.
"This is also half-time of the match. Let’s see what will happen when we go to Arrows," Cardoso added. "We can’t give up."