PRETORIA, South Africa, May 26 – Harambee Stars defender Brian Mandela clinched his first league title in his first season with Mamelodi Sundowns after the Pretoria-based club were crowned the South Africa Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions on Wednesday.
Sundowns were crowned champions after a 3-1 victory over Supersport United, a result that saw them clinch the crown for a record fourth consecutive time and their 11th crown in history.
Mandela who joined Sundowns at the beginning of the season has been used sparingly over the last two months as he recovered from injury, but was a starter and played the entire match against Supersport.
Full-back Aubrey Modiba starred in the victory over Supersport with Masandawana winning the crown with three matches to spare.
He created the first goal for Lebohang Maboe, scored the second and orchestrated the third for Themba Zwane as the hosts netted three times in 12 minutes before half-time.
Zwane had a poorly placed penalty saved by SuperSport captain Ronwen Williams early in the second half at Loftus Versfeld stadium.
A SuperSport side reduced to 10 men after only eight minutes when Congo Brazzaville-born Guily Manziba was red-carded fared better in the second half and Tebogo Mokoena scored four minutes from time.
Victory gave Sundowns an unassailable 10-point lead over second-place AmaZulu with each club having three matches to play in the richest African league.
Sundowns pocketed 15 million rand(Sh117.2mn) for finishing first and AmaZulu will receive half that amount if they remain second.
The top two finishers qualify for the 2022 CAF Champions League and the team coming third — most likely Golden Arrows or Orlando Pirates — will go into the CAF Confederation Cup with FA Cup winners TTM.
Sundowns were eliminated from the current Champions League last Saturday, losing 3-1 on aggregate to title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt after being held 1-1 at home.
Elsewhere, bottom club Black Leopards kept alive hopes of avoiding relegation as Tiklas Thutlwa scored twice in a 2-1 home win over Kaizer Chiefs, who had taken an early lead through Colombian Leonardo Castro.
Leopards, who are based in remote northeastern town Thohoyandou, trail second-last Chippa United by three points with both sides having two matches to play.
