Cape Town — Mamelodi Sundowns, fielding a side that showed 10 changes, ground out a comfortable 5-0 win over Summerfield Dynamos in their Nedbank Cup quarter-final clash on Saturday evening at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Sundowns' technical team decided to bring in 10 fresh players who did not play in last week's midweek match against Swallows. The untried combination wasted no time in striking up cohesion, and they ensured that Sundowns moved on to the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup, which the club last won in 2015.
Two goals in four minutes in the opening 12 minutes of play pointed to a rout in this David (Dynamos) vs Goliath (Sundowns) clash.
Moments after referee Xola Sitela blew the opening whistle, Sundowns' midfielder Lebohang Maboe fired the first salvo. It was a warning that Sundowns was in trigger-happy mode. His opening minute volley, from range, was gathered by Dynamos goalkeeper Bongani Masoga.
The slippery conditions because of the rain did little to deter Sundowns as their free-flowing game, which produced a high press, made inroads deep into the opposition half. There was a flurry of half-chances for Gastón Sirino (midfielder), Kermit Erasmus (striker) and Teboho Mokoena (defender) but Masoga and his supporting rearguard kept their defensive lines intact.
With so many shots coming from Sundowns, an early goal was imminent, although there was an element of good fortune when Uruguayan Sirino opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Midfielder Lesedi Kapinga had overlapped the opposition defence out wide on the right before kicking a low goalmouth cross. Sirino, although losing his balance, scrambled the ball past Masoga with a tame shot (1-0).
The Sundowns fans were hardly back in their seats after celebrating Sirino's goal when the scoreline moved to 2-0 four minutes later. This time Kapinga was the scorer, and again the Dynamos defence were guilty of ball watching. Erasmus engineered the goal with a huge crossfield kick which midfielder Neo Maema picked up before laying on a scoring pass to Kapinga.
By this time, Sundowns were enjoying 80% possession, and the game was played almost entirely in the Dynamos half. As the first half wound towards its close, right back Aubrey Modiba stalked into the attack, and despite some fancy footwork that saw him worm his way past Masoga, he failed to score.
Mokoena also came close but was denied by the crossbar as he unleashed a trademark shot from range. However, Masoga and good luck helped Dynamos to restrict Sundowns to a 2-0 scoreline by the time the halftime whistle sounded.
Four minutes into second-half play, Sundowns tried to launch an attack from their penalty area, but they lost possession 30 metres out. Dynamos counter-attacked and striker Samkele Ngubane broke free and although his curling shot left goalkeeper Ricardo Goss grasping fresh air, the upright kept the shot out and the KZN ABC Motsepe side were denied a goal.
After this let-off Sundowns doubled the score through Kermit Erasmus who recorded a brace in the space of eight minutes, starting in the 52nd minute (4-0).
Ten minutes from the end, Sundowns made it 5-0 with a header from Slovakian substitute Pavol Safranko after what looked like a training ground set-piece.
IOL Sport