Mamelodi Sundowns have secured the final spot in the MTN8 semifinals. This comes after a 4-0 victory against Richards Bay FC in their season opener on Sunday night at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. 

It only took Masandawana ten minutes to break the deadlock through Iqraam Rayners. The goal materialised from Arthur Sales’ corner kick, whose ball bounced before connecting with Rayner’s head to hit the net.  

While the hosts dominated most of the opening half, the Natal Rich Boyz also had a few opportunities to test the Downs defence. There was a mistake made by Marcelo Allende, which was countered by Richards Bay. While trying to block the ball from moving forward for the visitors, Teboho Mokoena committed a foul, earning Richards Bay a free-kick. The set-piece amounted to nothing as the wall of yellow shirts blocked the ball. 

Rayners almost registered a brace a few minutes after the clock hit the half-hour mark. He’d made a good run to the opposition’s half after being served with a long ball that came from the other half. His run to the net was met by the goalkeeper to deny him.

Inside the stoppage time of the first stanza, the second goal came for the Pretoria-based side, but it is credited to their opponent. Sales set up Mokoena, whose intention was to hand the ball to Rayners, who was in a better position to score. With pressure piling up for them, the Richards Bay defence tried to clear the ball away but ended up scoring an own goal. With not much action in the final three minutes of added time, Bafana Ba Style headed to the interval two goals up. 

The KwaZulu-Natal side opened the second half with a dangerous chance on the left flank. Luckily, with no blue shirts in front of the goal to slot it in, the shot just passed the face of the goal. On both the attack and defence, they looked more clinical than they were in the opening half.

Downs’ first chance of the second stanza came in the 51st minute. Allende set Rayners up, but the pass was slightly powerful for Rayners to get it. Three minutes later, Rayners finally got it right and made it three for his side. The ball came from Sales to set up Rayners, who made a perfect run and curled it in on the nearpost.

In the last 20 minutes of the match, Ronwen Williams was tested by the Richards Bay attack, but through his high alertness and the help of his backline, they were able to clear the ball. 

Siyabonga Mabena, who came in as a sub in the final stages of the match, scored the fourth and final goal of the night for the Brazilians through a powerful defence-splitting pass from the left flank to find the back of the net. 

Four goals and a clean sheet were enough to see Masandawana through to the next round of the cup competition. The two-legged semifinal round will see them meeting Orlando Pirates.