After 90 minutes of a thrilling titanic tussle, Mamelodi Sundowns registered a 3-4 defeat against Borussia Dortmund in the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday night at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Tashreeq Matthews orchestrated the first big chance of the match from the left flank, but the shot he struck was smacked away by the goalkeeper.
The German side looked to find the back of the net, but before entering the box, Grant Kekana cleared the ball, earning Dortmund a corner kick, which didn’t bring any goals.
In the tenth minute, Ribiero opened the scoring for Masandawna. He found himself in space and dribbled his way to the danger area, where he slotted the ball. Six minutes later, Downs’ lead was whacked out after Ronwen Williams made a short pass that was intercepted by the away side, who did not waste time and slotted it in to level matters.
Ribeiro was denied a goal through his double effort. As he was looking to record a brace, his shot got blocked. He quickly got a rebound, which was also blocked.
In the 34th minute, Dortmund snatched the lead through a header which came from the left flank. Just before the interval, Dortmund found the back of the net again from a rebound. The Pretoria-based side went to the break trailing by two goals.
The German-based side looked to open the restart with a goal but was cleared away, earning them a corner which didn’t amount to a goal.
Teboho Mokoena came close to making it two for his side following a free-kick awarded to Bafana Ba Style, but his effort was flicked off the wall and slightly tipped the crossbar before going over.
Shortly after, Dortmund found their fourth goal in the 59th minute. It came from a cross which was diverted off by Khuliso Mudau, directing the ball into the net to make it four goals.
A foul on Ribeiro saw Masandawana scoring their second goal in the 62nd minute, just three minutes after the Dortmund goal. Mokoena had taken the set-piece and flicked the ball into the area. Rayners found it, headed it, but his effort hit the woodwork. Luckily, he found the rebound and headed it into the net.
On the 90th minute, Kutlwano Letlhaku made an important pass to Lebo Mothiba who was in front of goal and made it three for Downs, also scoring his first goal in Brazilian colours. Despite looking for more goals to close the gap, Downs registered their first loss in the tournament.
Line up: Williams, Mudau, Cupido, Kekana, Lunga, Mokoena, Allende, Zwane ©, Ribeiro, Rayners, Matthews.
Subs: Onyango, Khoza, Lebusa, Modiba, Mvala, Morena, Mdunyelwa, Mkhilise, Adams, Maema, Sales, Aubaas, Letlhaku, Shalulile, Mothiba.
SOURCED FROM MAMELODI SUNDOWNS WEBSITE.
