A brace from Rodney Ramagalela gave Polokwane City a 2-1 win against Mamelodi Sundowns at the Loftus Versveld Stadium on Tuesday night, writes MARSHALL GOUTS.
Pitso Mosimane made one change to his side that defeated SuperSport United 2-0 in the Tshwane Derby, with forward Thokozani Sekotlong making his debut in place of Khama Billiat.
The home side got off to the brighter start of the two teams, with Sekotlong almost picking up on a defensive error at the back, but the Rise and Shine defence managed to clear their lines in time.
Percy Tau showed his class with an excellent touch to set up Sekotlong, but the forward’s well-struck drive was saved by goalkeeper George Chigova.
City came agonisingly close to taking the lead as Rodney Ramagalela beat his man, but he fired inches wide of the target from the edge of the box.
Sundowns should have taken the lead in the 18th minute when Tau’s cutback found Sekotlong in the area, but the forward managed to miss his effort from close range.
The visitors struggled to deal with the pace of Themba Zwane and Tau, but for all their attacking efforts, Sundowns could not breach the City defence.
Defender Motjeka Madisha ensured that the scoreline remained level with a goal-saving tackle on Ramagalela inside the six-yard area.
Ramagalela was rewarded for his hard-running as he scored the opener after a seemingly harmless move in the 35th minute, playing an unintentional one-two with Oupa Manyisa to net past Denis Onyango.
Sundowns signalled their attacking intent in the second half, but in doing so, left themselves vulnerable at the back, and it almost cost them in the 49th minute when Thabang Klaas found himself in a one-on-one situation, but Onyango saved the resultant effort.
Sundowns were arguably fortunate to level matters in the 54th minute from a George Lebese penalty, after the referee adjudged Thapelo Tshilo to have handled the ball in the area.
Chigova saved Madisha’s goalbound header in the 64th minute after a great free kick by Lebese.
Sundowns’ defensive woes continued as Ramagalela netted his brace in the 70th minute with a well-struck shot from distance which gave Onyango no chance.
Mosimane made two attacking substitutions in search of the equaliser as Anthony Laffor and Yannick Zakri came on to replace Lebese and Sekotlong respectively.
Kekana came agonisngly close to levelling matters for his side, but was unfortunate to see his shot strike the post.
Fares Hachi was introduced late for Manyisa as Mosimane went for broke, but it was not to be as Polokwane City recorded their first win of the season.
