Sundowns face a headwind sailing home

Sundowns face a headwind sailing home

By Mark Gleeson

Mamelodi Sundowns are not having as smooth an end to the season as they might have hoped for.

On Sunday they narrowly avoided defeat at Kaizer Chiefs and now they face the tricky Stellenbosch FC in their last home match of the season this coming Saturday.

They will be defending an unbeaten home record in the league this season as they take to the pitch in front of their fans at Loftus Versfeld for the last time in this campaign.

It would be a long shot to suggest Stellenbosch are going to upset them, but they are guaranteed to give them a hard time of it.

The club from the Winelands still have a chance to finish in the top three of the DStv Premiership, concluding what would be a dream season for them after narrowly escaping relegation in the last campaign.

Sundowns almost lost to Chiefs at Soccer City. Had it not been for the penalty save by Reyaad Pieterse against Keegan Dolly, they would have. With their African Champions League elimination, and long injury list, it is not as smooth sailing as expected for the already crowned champions.

Saturday sees the penultimate round of matches in the league and all the fixtures kick off simultaneously.

If Cape Town City can beat AmaZulu at home and Royal AM do not win their derby at Lamontville Golden Arrows, then Eric Tinkler’s side look set for second place in the league, and a berth in next season’s Champions League.

Chiefs still have a mathematical chance of a top two finish, but it is an outside bet. They should, however, win at Sekhukhune United as they make the short trip to their old home ground of Ellis Park.

At the other end of the table, Swallows FC must beat Chippa United in Dobsonville to stand any chance of getting out of the danger zone while Baroka FC have to win at home to SuperSport United to stand any chance of survival.