JOHANNESBURG:
A blunder from otherwise outstanding Golden Arrows goalkeeper Sifiso Mlungwana gifted champions Mamelodi Sundowns a 1-1 draw on Wednesday in the South African Premiership.
Arrows were clinging to a one-goal lead in Durban when Mlungwana allowed a Sipho Mbule header after a corner to slip from his grasp into the net in 73 minutes.
Earlier, Mlungwana made several superb saves as unpredictable mid-table outfit Arrows produced their best performance of the season.
It was the first Premiership goal of the league campaign for Mbule, who came off the bench in the second half to extend the unbeaten league run of Sundowns to 20 matches.
The home side had taken a 23rd-minute through Ryan Moon, who reacted quickest to a low cross and hammered the ball past goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
Since winning a sixth straight Premiership title on April 1, Sundowns have suffered a mini slump, drawing with Cape Town City, Swallows and Arrows, and scoring only one goal.
But they are 19 points ahead of second-placed Orlando Pirates with four fixtures left and set to better the record margin of 16 points for a title-winning side, which they created last year.
The Pretoria outfit are chasing a treble as they have reached the quarterfinals of the South African FA Cup and the CAF Champions League.
“We were off the pace and feeling sorry for ourselves in the opening half,” said Rhulani Mokwena, the 36-year-old coach of Sundowns who never played top-level football.
“Our schedule involves matches every few days, but that is the price of being successful and we must accept that.
“There was a dramatic improvement after some tough half-time talking. We showed bravery and I was very proud of the boys.”
Elsewhere, CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinalists Marumo Gallants climbed out of the relegation zone by coming from behind to beat fellow strugglers Chippa United 3-1 in Polokwane.
Ranga Chivaviro scored a hat-trick that included two penalties after Nigerian Etiosa Ighodaro had given Chippa a half-time lead.
Marumo have 27 points, one more than Chippa, while Maritzburg United are last with 24. The bottom club are automatically relegated, and the second-last side go into play-offs.
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