28 August 2021 – Sundowns cannot be caught at the top of the pool, but the other semifinal spot will go down to the wire on Monday after Lesotho Defence Force and Manzini Wanderers played to a 1-1 draw earlier in the day.
Sundowns have looked mighty impressive in their opening two matches, scoring 12 goals without conceding as they seek qualification for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League that will be staged in Egypt later in the year. Only the winner of the COSAFA qualifiers will book their ticket.
They were ahead on 13 minutes when Zanele Nhlapho converted a penalty-kick and it was 2-0 midway through the first half as Melinda Kgadiete finished off an excellent team move.
Sundowns made sure of the points early in the second period with two more goals in quick succession that doubled their advantage.
Kgadiete scored her second, before their hat-trick hero from the opening fixture, Andisiwe Mgcoyi, finished off an excellent run from Chuene Morifi to add a fourth on 50 minutes. Kgadiete made sure she was the second Sundowns player to score a hat-trick in the competition when she tapped home for her third goal as The Brazilians’ Ladies took complete control of the game.
Lelona Daweti added a sixth goal 15 minutes from fulltime, as Sundowns cruised to their second successive 6-0 victory.
Both Lesotho Defence Force and Manzini Wanderers from Eswatini kept their chances of a semifinal place alive with 1-1 draw in the opening game on Saturday.
The Defence Force side will be kicking themselves as they let three points slip, noting taking
advantage of a dominant performance as they wasted a number of chances to seal the win, only to concede late on and have to settle for the draw.
The opening goal of the game was a superb strike from Defence Force’s Kholu Lebakeng after just three minutes as she picked up the ball on the edge of the area and curled her shot into the top corner.
The Lesotho team continued to have the better of the chances and should have been out of sight by the closing stages of the game, and were made to pay for their profligacy.
A corner was not cleared and when the ball fell to Wanderers’ Nomvula Sanga, she side-footed into the net, with the ball clipping the inside of the post.
Namibian side TURA Magic will debut in the three-team Group B when they take on Black Rhinos Queens of Zimbabwe on Sunday at 14h00 CAT.
Queens were hugely impressive in their 2-0 victory over Green Buffaloes on Friday but will likely face a stern challenge from Magic, who will be itching to get their first win.
The Zimbabwean side will know that a draw will be enough to see them into the semifinals, while a victory would ensure top spot in the pool.
The top two teams in each of the groups advance to the semifinals, which will be played on September 2.
You can follow all the games live on www.cosafa.tv and on SABC Sports Channel on Openview.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Group A
Lesotho Defence Force 1 (Lebakeng 3′) Manzini Wanderers 1 (Sanga 89’)
Mamelodi Sundowns 6 (Nhlapho 13’, Kgadiete 25’, 46’, 63’, Mgcoyi 50’, Daweti 74’) Double Action 0
Article courtesy of COSAFA
