Advantage Pirates in title race as Chiefs hold Sundowns in tense clash

It’s advantage Orlando Pirates in this exciting Betway Premiership title race after a 10-man Mamelodi Sundowns were held to a 1-1 draw by Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus on Wednesday night.

With this share of the spoils, the Brazilians remain top of the standings with a three-point advantage but the Buccaneers have a game in hand and superior goal difference.

This means Pirates are overwhelming favourites to win the league if they win their remaining matches against Magesi FC, Durban City and Orbit College.

Pirates return to league action against relegation-threatened Magesi on Saturday at Orlando Stadium with the aim of returning to the top of the pile.

A win will hand them a massive psychological advantage at this crucial stage of the season.

Sundowns, whose championship fate is no longer in their own hands, will also be in action on Saturday where they host Siwelele FC at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.

For Chiefs, this point is crucial as they have a three-point cushion over AmaZulu in their battle for the third-spot finish that comes with Confederation Cup football next season.

Sundowns suffered a major blow when reliable defender Keanu Cupido went down after he was clattered into by Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Siphesihle Ndlovu after 14 minutes.

Cupido is believed to have fractured his collarbone in the collision which has effectively ended his season and his 2026 Fifa World Cup chances in the US, Mexico and Canada.

Cupido was stretchered off the pitch after 17 minutes and he was replaced by Grant Kekana to play alongside Khulumani Ndamane in central defence.

Chiefs opened the scoring after 25 minutes when Flavio Silva latched on to a short pass from Mduduzi Shabalala after the Sundowns defence failed to clear the danger.

The live log standings after Silva’s eighth goal of the season saw Sundowns remain top of the pile with a two-point advantage over Pirates but with the Brazilians having played one more match.

Chiefs lost Shabalala during optional-time in the first half when he was also stretchered off the field after he was roughed up by Jayden Adams and replaced by Gaston Sirino.

To push for the equaliser, Cardoso made two changes at the start of the second half by replacing Themba Zwane and Marcelo Allende with Nuno Santos and Thapelo Morena.

Sundowns equalised after 54 minutes when Morena made an almost immediate impact by delivering a telling cross to Brayan León from inside the box.

For the equalising goal, the Colombian attacker cleverly peeled away from Chiefs defender Aiden McCarthy before beating Brandon Petersen for his sixth goal of the season.

Sundowns nearly sneaked in the winner at the death but Petersen stretched at full strength to deny Iqraam Rayner’s close range header.

TimesLIVE