Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Golden Arrows 4-0 on Tuesday night at the Lucas Moripe Stadium to keep up their flawless start to the defence of their DStv Premiership title.

Thanks to goals from Peter Shalulile, Lesiba Nku (two), and Grant Kekana, the Brazilians have now won three straight league games. This gives them a three-point lead over closest rival Cape Town City at the top of the standings.

With their first loss of the year, Abafana Bes’thende are now in fifth place with four points.

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Sundowns controlled the game from the outset and created excellent opportunities for Neo Maema and Rivaldo Coetzee in the first quarter hour, neither of which was taken advantage of.

The game-changing goal came in the 17th minute when Peter Shalulile scored an acrobatic close-range goal to give the hosts a 1-0 lead after headers from Coetzee and Mothobi Mvala in the penalty area.

Lesiba Nku scored with a deft flick from the instep of his left foot to make it 2-0 just four minutes later after a well-executed passing sequence ended with Neo Maema drilling a low ball into the penalty area from the left.

In the 33rd minute, Teboho Mokoena came close to extending Sundowns’ lead with a powerful shot from the ‘D’ of the penalty area that beat Arrows goalkeeper Ismail Watenga but missed the post.

Grant Kekana scored with a glancing header from Marcelo Allende’s corner kick in the 39th minute, practically finishing the game as a contest even before halftime, thus the Tshwane squad did not have to wait long for the third goal.

Sundowns brought on Bongani Zungu, Terrence Mashego, and Bathusi Aubaas at the beginning of the second half, while Arrows brought on the quintet of Olwethu Ncube, Sbonelo Cele, Lungelo Nguse, and Siyanda Mthanti.

The Brazilians scored their fourth goal of the game less than three minutes into the second half after Watenga saved Maema’s initial attempt. Nku then finished the play simply by latching onto the rebound after Maema’s save.

Sundowns slowed down throughout the second half, but they did experience a brief period of concern when Shalulile pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

With just under 20 minutes of regulation time left, Siyanda Nyanga took his place.

The DStv Premiership will resume play this weekend with Sundowns taking on Chippa United away from home on Saturday, August 19, and Arrows facing SuperSport United away on Sunday, August 29.