Mamelodi Sundowns climbed to the summit of the Absa Premiership after they edged out Cape Town City 3-2 in a five-goal thriller at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday evening.

Masandawana came into the game knowing that they had the chance to go top with a victory in a fixture that could serve as one of their catch-up games.

City, on the other hand, were looking for a victory which would well and truly put them among the title contenders.

Downs started the game well as they looked to get in behind the City defence from the word go, but were being let down by some wasteful finishing.

Sundowns finally made the pressure pay when Lebogang Maboe opened the scoring with 23 minutes gone. The forward latched on to a Tebogo Langerman long ball before expertly placing his shot beyond Peter Leeuwenburgh.

City were on the back foot and had their keeper to thank for keeping them in the game as he made two top saves to deny Langerman and Maboe in the closing stages of the game.

The Citizens needed a big second half and got off to the perfect start as they were awarded a penalty after Langerman was judged to have handled the ball in the box. This allowed Norodien to step up and calmly slot home to level matters.

Sundowns were sparked into action by the equaliser and eventually restored their lead when Anthony Laffor let loose a top-class half-volley from the edge of the box which left Leeuwenburgh with no chance.

After wasting a number of chances, the Brazilians eventually got a third as Phakamani Mahlambi sealed the win after he was unselfishly teed up by Zwane with three minutes to go.

Downs thought they had settled the game with the Zwane goal, but City responded yet again as Kermit Erasmus pulled one back in the closing stages.

Pitso Mosimane’s men held on, however, for the vital three points which see them take control of the title race.