On Sunday, the Brazilians booked their spot in the final with a 2-0 win against Marumo Gallants in the semi-finals at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium.

While the home side could not claim the big scalp of the Brazilians, their fans certainly came out in their numbers in the torrential rain and until long after the game, there was still a buzz in the stadium.

Both teams created opportunities in the first half but were unable to convert as the score was deadlocked at 0-0 at the halftime break.

Lucas Ribeiro Costa and Edgar Manaka. Photo: Morgan Piek

In the second half, there was a lot more intent shown by the visitors and they managed to open the scoring when pressure led to a penalty, which the Brazilian midfielder, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, converted from the spot.

Gallants didn’t let up on their attack after going down, but they were always going to be in for a difficult day with the Bafana Bafana captain and Ballon d’Or nominee, Ronwen Williams in goal for Sundowns.

Towards the latter stages, the game opened up a lot but it remained Sundowns who kept piling on the pressure. The Gallants defence eventually cracked four minutes into stoppage time when the former Bloemfontein Celtic midfielder, Neo Maema, found the back of the net for the second goal to seal the win.

The Gallants coach, Dan Malesela, told OFM Sport that had one of their chances found the back of the net, the complexion of the game would have changed. “Well, not only that time, I think we had a great chance with Thapelo Dhludhlu in the second half, you know, because if you scored at that time the chances of the Sundowns coming back would be slim because then you shut the backdoor.

“But I said to the players, sometimes when it’s going to go in, it will go in one of those, and sometimes it doesn’t. There’s always a reason. Maybe because we are a few months old, reborn, probably, maybe the forces are saying, hey, if you go to the finals, your heads will be loose or something like that.”

The Sundowns coach, Manqoba Mngqithi, in turn, told OFM Sport that they look forward to returning to Bloemfontein for the final against Magesi FC in a couple of weeks from now. “It’s always nice to play in Bloemfontein because of the atmosphere that you would get from the city,” he said.

Ronwen Williams. Photo: Morgan Piek

“It’s just that I’m not sure of the quality of the pitch of the stadium where the final will be played because I think this pitch was much better than where the final is going to be played. This is based on the history that I have of the Toyota Stadium.

“But otherwise, I like this environment because you are guaranteed supporters, even if you – whoever you are playing against – Celtic supporters will always come and I really like the way they have embraced even Marumo in this city.”

The final of the Carling Knockout Cup between Sundowns and Clinton Larsen’s Magesi FC will be played on 23 November at the Toyota Stadium. The PSL is yet to confirm the kick-off time.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg