Clinton Larsen’s record against Sundowns

Magesi coach Clinton Larsen has a dismal record against Mamelodi Sundowns, which does not hold out much hope for his side when they take on the champions in Saturday’s Carling Knockout final in Bloemfontein, but on the rare occasion he has won a game against Sundowns, he has done it in style.

In his 15-year top flight coaching career, Larsen has taken on Sundowns 24 times but only won four those, with four draws and a lengthy list of 16 defeat.

The goal tally is also heavily skewed against him with 18 scored for Larsen’s teams but 37 conceded.

However, Magesi will draw hope from the fact that Larsen has had some memorable wins over Sundowns – including a cup final and one of the biggest drubbings the Brazilians ever suffered.

HOPEFUL HISTORY

His first game as a coach against Sundowns was already well into his debut season with Bloemfontein Celtic immediately after the 2010 World Cup. Celtic hosted Sundowns, who took an early lead through Katlego Mphela but Phunya Sele Sele came back to equalise on the stroke of halftime through Thokozani Mshengu and hold out for a 1-1 draw.

Larsen’s first cup game against the Brazilians was at the start of his second season in charge with Sundowns pipping Celtic 1-0 in the MTN8 quarterfinal in Atteridgeville with a 78th minute goal from Mabhuti Khenyeza.

Larsen lost his first seven cup games in charge at Celtic. In the 2010/11 campaign (Chiefs in MTN8, Maritzburg United in Telkom Knockout and Platinum Stars in Nedbank Cup) and again in the 2011/12 season (Sundowns in MTN8, Jomo Cosmos in Telkom Knockout and Maritzburg United in Nedbank Cup) when Celtic did not yet score a single cup goal. Then followed a loss to Orlando Pirates in the 2012 MTN8 to make it seven in a row, before Celtic embarked on a winning campaign in the 2012 Telkom Knockout, culminating in victory in the final against Sundowns in Durban.

That 1-0 victory, courtesy of Joel Mogorosi’s 47th minute strike, was the first win over Sundowns in seven attempts for Larsen, and clouded in controversy. The goal came after 47 minutes when the midfielder headed in at the back post, although replays on whether the whole ball crossed the line were inconclusive. Referee Phillip Tinyani nonetheless awarded the goal after linesman Thembisile Windvoel raised his flag, despite the efforts of Sundowns defender Clayton Daniels to clear on the line.

The cup final came one week after Celtic had lost to Sundowns in the league but later in the same season Celtic gave Larsen a first-ever league win over Sundowns away, when. They won 1-0 with a goal from Ruzaigh Gamildien.

The 53-year-old started his top flight coaching career at Celtic when he replaced Owen da Gama. He had been assistant coach in the previous season (2009/10) and the smooth transition ensured that Celtic finished in fifth place in Larsen’s first campaign. Their 52-point haul was a club record number of points in a single season.

After only one victory in the opening eight games of the 2013-14 season, Larsen left Celtic after 108 matches in charge. They started the season with a 3-1 home loss to Sundowns and it went downhill quickly thereafter, culminating with a 4-0 home loss to the Brazilians in the first game in defence of their cup title.

Larsen immediately signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at Maritzburg United but lasted nine game before being sacked, winning once. His last game in charge was 2-2 draw at Sundowns.

After more than a year’s absence from the top flight, Larsen returned to Celtic in February 2015 and two months into his second stint engineered a famous 5-0 win at Atteridgeville with the opening goal after 37 seconds from Lerato Lamola.

It remains one of the heaviest defeats that Sundowns have ever suffered and was a shock scoreline that reverberated around the country.

From the start of the 2016-17 campaign, Larsen took up an offer at Lamontville Golden Arrows and got an upset away win over Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup, although lost both league games to them that season.

At the halfway point of the 2018-19 season, Larsen was fired by Arrows two days after Xmas but within weeks was in charge at Chippa United.

There he was sacked early into the next season (2019-20) and finished at Polokwane City but only two points from their last six game of the campaign in the Covid-19 bio bubble in Gauteng ensured they finished last and were relegated. It included a 3-0 loss against Sundowns

Larsen since worked in the third tier of South African football at Summerfield Dynamo, who he took to the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal two season ago, before winning the Motsepe Foundation Championship with Magesi last season and winning them promotion to the top flight.

Clinton Larsen’s coaching record against Sundowns

2010-11

Celtic 1 Sundowns 1

Sundowns 3 Celtic 1

2011-12

Sundowns 1 Celtic 0 (MTN8 quarterfinal)

Sundowns 2 Celtic 1

Celtic 0 Sundowns 0

2012-13

Celtic 0 Sundowns 1

Celtic 1 Sundowns 0 (Telkom Knockout final)

Sundowns 0 Celtic 1