On a night when everything that could go wrong went wrong, 10-man Kaizer Chiefs were humbled 4-0 in their highly-anticipated Carling Black Label Cup quarterfinal at FNB stadium on Saturday.
Two goals from Iqraam Rayners, one a penalty, and another from Peter Shalulile had the Brazilians three goals to the good at half-time. Chiefs skipper, Inacio Miguel saw red early in the second half before Khuliso Mudau completed the scoring to wrap up an emphatic victory.
There was little positive to take from the first half, as Amakhosi came under pressure from the get-go. Sundowns had the upper hand and could have taken the lead before the deadlock was broken after 13 minutes, when a mistake from Samkelo Zwane allowed Ribeiro to break into the box.
He was brought down by Njabulo Blom and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Rayners duly despatched the kick to put Sundowns ahead.
Sundowns doubled the score nine minutes later when Rayners bagged his second, finishing smartly from a right wing cross by Khuliso Mudau.
The Brazilians’ third goal came in similar fashion, only down the left flank this time. Aubrey Modiba took advantage of Reeve Frosler’s absence from the filed following medical attention to fire in a cross that was tucked away by Shalulile in the 40th minute.
Sundowns had further opportunities to add to their tally which, thankfully, they didn’t convert, and had to be content with a 3-0 lead at the break.
The situation did not improve in the second period and, with 10 minutes of the restart, Amakhosi were reduced to 10 men when Miguel, only just back from suspension, received a second yellow card for a foul on Modiba, having already been booked in the first half.
Coach Nabi sacrificed the creativity of Gaston Sirino to send on Thatayaone Ditlhokwe to shore up the defence but it didn’t help and on the hour mark, Mudau latched on to Ribeiro’s defence-splitting pass to prod the ball past Fiacre Ntwari to make it 4-0.
Sundowns cruised through the remaining half-hour as the Amakhosi players gamely tried to salvage some pride in front of the multitude of devoted Chiefs fans still willing their team on, even in adversity.
However, apart from a couple of half chances that fell to Ditlhokwe and Chivaviro, there was nothing else to speak of.
This setback left Coach Nabi and his technical staff with much to work on before the team resumes action later this month after the FIFA international break.