The Brazilians will now face the winner between Swallows FC and Cape Town City in the decider of the tournament they last won in 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns booked a place in the final of the MTN8 after beating Golden Arrows 3-0 in a semi-final, second leg match at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday.
Peter Shalulile struck in the fourth minute while Divine Lunga added on 29th minute and substitute Neo Maema’s injury-time curler earned the Tshwane giants a 4-1 aggregate victory after the first leg ended 1-1.
The win saw the Brazilians edging closer to winning a Cup which has eluded them since 2007.
One of their coaches Manqoba Mngqithi guided Arrows to the MTN8 title in 2009 in emphatic fashion when they beat Ajax Cape Town 6-0.
Zimbabwean left-back Divine Lunga was making his Masandawana debut while Lyle Lakay was deployed as a right back.
Sundowns were missing a number of key players like Mosa Lebusa, Thapelo Morena and Rivaldo Coetzee, leaving Andile Jali to captain them.
With goalkeepers Denis Onyango and Kennedy Mweene also injured, Reyaad Pieterse was rewarded with his first start of the season while being deputised by Ricardo Goss.
Knox Mutizwa and Nduduzo Sibiya led the Arrows attack while Thabani Zuke and Nkosinathi Sibisi were trusted as the central defensive pairing.
Arrows were punished early in the match when Sifiso Mlungwana failed to collect Thabiso Kutumela’s shot, leaving Shalulile to pounce on the rebound.
It was the Namibian’s fourth successive game scoring.
But Arrows tried to respond soon after and had Velemseni Ndwandwe’s low drive saved by Pieterse.
The Brazilians then almost doubled their advantage on 15 minutes but Pavol Safranko was late to shoot while faced with Mlungwana only which allowed Sibisi to recover and make a crucial block.
The Abafana Bes’thende goalkeeper was again back to deny Safranko who had rose high to try and connect with his head off a Kutumela cross from the right.
To memorably cap his debut, Lunga headed in a freekick from Kutumela to score against his former side on the half-hour mark.
An opportunity to extend their lead came for Sundowns just on the brink of half-time but Kutumela was denied by the upright post.
Five minutes into the second half, Safranko almost grabbed his second goal of this tournament but shot just over the bar.
From then, no meaningful chances were witnessed between both sides as Sundowns appeared disturbed by the half-time substitution of Themba Zwane.
At the other end, Sibiya and Michael Gumede as well as new introduction and Simo Mbhele were struggling to penetrate the Masandawana defence.
The hosts then ended the match with no goalkeeper on the bench after Pieterse was forced off due to injury.
As both sides struggled to test each other, Maela managed to kill the game as a contest with a curled effort from outside the box.
Source: Source: Goal
