Sundowns outclass Arrows to book MTN8 final spot

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Divine Lunga of Mamelodi Sundowns celebrates with his teammates

Mamelodi Sundowns proved too much for Golden Arrows in their MTN8 semi-final second leg on Tuesday as the Brazilians cruised to a 3-0 win, advancing to the final 4-1 on aggregate.

Downs came into the game with a slight advantage, thanks to the 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium.

The hosts started on the front foot as they grabbed the lead with just four minutes gone. Peter Shaluile picked up the pieces after a poor clearance and played through Thabiso Kutumela, who fired a shot at goal. His effort was kept out, but Shalulile was on hand to tap home the rebound to open the scoring.

Arrows looked for an immediate reaction and almost got it in two minutes as Thabani Zuke’s driven shot forced Riyaad Pieterse into a fine save.

In what was proving to be an open game, both sides were sharing chances as Themba Zwane was kept out by Mlungwana before Velemseni Ndwandwe blazed over the bar after finding himself in a good position in the Downs box.

After Safranko went close with a header, Downs finally found their second. It was the debutant Lunga who got on the end of a free kick, whipped into the box by Kutumela to head home against his former side and put the Brazilians firmly in control.

The hosts came out in the second half looking to continue where they left off in the first but were met by a far more determined Arrows side.

Seema’s men were proving more difficult to break down but were also struggling to threaten the Downs goal.

Arrows continued to show their fighting spirit, but Sundowns wrapped it up in injury time as subsitute Neo Maema fired in a rocket to book Downs’ first visit to the final of the MTN8 since 2016.