Mngqithi Stops Cardoso’s Run As Sundowns Drop Points Against Arrows in PSL

• Manqoba Mngqithi's Golden Arrows held Miguel Cardoso's Mamelodi Sundowns to a draw at the Mpumalanga Stadium on Wednesday
• The former Mamelodi Sundowns coach made a return to the Backheel Boys and his first official game ended in a draw against his previous employee
• The Brazilians dropped a vital two points in the title race with Orlando Pirates securing all three points against Chippa United

Manqoba Mngqithi led his new team, Golden Arrows, to a 1-1 draw against league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns in the Betway Premiership at the Mpumalanga Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The Brazilians came into the match with a 5-match winning run but were held by the Backheel Boys led by their former coach.

Golden Arrows star Keenan Phillips scored the first goal of the match, but Lucas Ribeiro's penalty earned a deserving point for Miguel Cardoso's side.

Sundowns drop points against Mngqithi's Golden Arrows

Golden Arrows started the game brightly and drew a save from Denis Onyango after two minutes of play, with Ncube turning a cross into a shot on target.

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Sundowns had their first chance of the match in the 12th minute after Tashreeq Matthews set up Peter Shalulile, who fired over the bar, he had another chance from the restart but his effort was saved by Watenga.

The host struck first after Keenan Phillips headed home Cele's freekick in the 31st minute.

Phillips turned from hero to villain after handling the ball in the box in the 42nd minute, which led to the referee pointing to the spot.

Lucas Ribeiro made no mistake as he slot the ball home with a beautiful panenka penalty in the 44th minute to level the scoreline.

The first half ended in a 1-1 draw with both teams having a fair chance to go ahead.

Both teams started the second half the way they ended the first, but it was Sundowns who were the better side.

Ribeiro was close to giving the defending champions the lead in the 65th minute, but his volley inside Golden Arrows box after a nice square play from Arthur Sales went over the bar.

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Sales had a chance of his own in the 76th minute, but his effort went wide as Sundowns continued to put more pressure on the host.

Arrows had a good chance to go ahead in the 83rd minute, but van Rooi failed to hit the target after getting past the Brazilians' defence.

Watenga denied the Pretoria giants from going ahead in the 88th minute after making a tremendous save to deny Sales' effort inside the box.

Both teams couldn't find a winner and had to settle for a 1-1 draw, which reduced the Brazilians' lead on top of the Betway Premiership table to 16 points after Orlando Pirates earned a deserving win over Chippa United.

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Source: Briefly News