A full round of midweek DStv Premiership action was headlined by a sixth straight win for Mamelodi Sundowns, while Kaizer Chiefs picked up a second successive triumph to build momentum under new coach Molefi Ntseki.
Sundowns racked up win No 6 of the new DStv Premiership season when they defeated hosts Polokwane City 2-0 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Wednesday’s early kick-off.
Lucas Ribeiro Costa netted both goals for the Brazilians, who extended their club record winning start to a league campaign to six matches – just two short of the overall record of eight, set by Chiefs in 2014-15 – and opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the table (having played a game more).
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— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) August 30, 2023
There's no stopping Sundowns at the moment in the #DStvPrem 😤 pic.twitter.com/hsxjciTnMA
The Tshwane giants are also just one match short of equalling another Chiefs record: a streak of 31 unbeaten league matches, set in 2005.
Their last defeat in the Premiership was at the hands of local rivals SuperSport United on 2 September 2022 – almost a year ago.
Wednesday also saw Chiefs claim a hard-fought 2-0 away win over 10-man Stellenbosch FC in an entertaining match at the Danie Craven Stadium.
A magnificent strike from Pule Mmodi and a red card for Devin Titus were the two deciding incidents of the match – with Christian Saile adding a final blow in the dying minutes – allowing the Amakhosi to record back-to-back league wins, while Stellies slumped to a second successive defeat.
Kaizer Chiefs make it back-to-back wins in the #DStvPrem ahead of their big clash against Sundowns on Saturday 👀 pic.twitter.com/jOBqta7RaJ
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) August 30, 2023
Elsewhere, Richards Bay have now gone 19 league matches without a win after their 1-1 draw at home to Sekhukhune United, Cape Town Spurs suffered a fifth straight loss after going down 3-1 at Moroka Swallows (for whom Tshegofatso Mabasa scored a brace), AmaZulu picked up a first win of the season after Augustine Kwem scored the only goal of their home match against TS Galaxy, and Royal AM secured a come-from-behind 3-2 away victory over Chippa United thanks to a strike midway through the second half from Lesego Manganyi.
Tuesday featured a stunning 3-0 win for Golden Arrows away to SuperSport United – with goals from Lungelo Nguse, Angelo Van Rooi and Ryan Moon ending Matsatsantsa’s unbeaten start to the season – as well as a 2-0 triumph for Orlando Pirates over Cape Town City, thanks to strikes from Zakhele Lepasa and Patrick Maswanganyi.
The DStv Premiership will go into recess to accommodate the MTN8 semifinals this weekend and subsequent international break, only returning in mid-September.
DSTV PREMIERSHIP MIDWEEK RESULTS
TUESDAY 29 AUGUST
SuperSport United 0-3 Golden Arrows
Orlando Pirates 2-0 Cape Town City
WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST
Polokwane City 0-2 Mamelodi Sundowns
Stellenbosch FC 0-2 Kaizer Chiefs
Chippa United 2-3 Royal AM
Richards Bay 1-1 Sekhukhune United
Moroka Swallows 3-1 Cape Town Spurs
AmaZulu 1-0 TS Galaxy