Six games, six defeats for Downs

Johannesburg - The Brazilians’ best efforts couldn’t save them from yet another loss.

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane can attest that football can humble you.

Sent packing

Mosimane recently told all who cared to listen that there was no competition for the Brazilians in the country. Turns out there is a lot of competition for the CAF Super Cup and CAF Champions League champions, as Mosimane was once again made to eat humble pie on Saturday.

Sundowns have now gone six matches without a win in all competitions. The most hurtful and embarrassing must be on Saturday when they were knocked out of the Nedbank Cup’s last-16 round by a determined Golden Arrows.

Sundowns came to this game hoping to arrest their decline, but struggled and were sent packing. Nduduzo Sibiya’s 66th minute strike was all Arrows needed for a memorable win, putting them through to the quarterfinals.

Sundowns now have only the Absa Premiership and the CAF Champions League to contend with.

Credit should go to Arrows whose game plan was clearly to frustrate the home side in front of their supporters. They stuck to their plan and weathered the Downs’ onslaught throughout the match.

Controlled proceedings

Just how Sundowns failed to score is hard to fathom as they controlled this scrappy affair and had endless chances to score.

But as it had been in the previous five games in which they scored only once, they lacked composure in front of goals – perhaps a sign that they are low on confidence.

Overall, it was Sundowns all the way as they controlled the proceedings and asked all the questions, but were left frustrated with Arrows’ resolute defending.

The home side always looked promising when going forward, but credit should go to the visitors who never cracked under pressure.