Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Richards Bay 2-0 on Friday to extend goalkeeper Ronwen Williams’ unbeaten streak in the South African Premiership to 671 minutes.
Since September 10 of last year, when the record 12-time winners narrowly defeated Golden Arrows, the South Africa captain has not removed the ball from the net.
Williams wasn’t put to the test until the 60th minute, when he stopped Richards Bay in the rainy Indian Ocean port city of Durban by using his legs.
The 30-year-old goalkeeper was signed from Pretoria neighbors SuperSport United before of this season, and in 15 Premiership games, he has only given up five goals.
With both teams having played half of their 30 games, Sundowns’ victory put them 11 points ahead of Richards Bay. Ten points behind of the leaders in second place is SuperSport.
Sundowns, who are vying for their sixth consecutive league championship, have consistently appeared to be winning against opponents that have surpassed expectations since receiving promotion last season.
Sundowns took the lead on 39 minutes thanks to a deft lob from Cassius Mailula, and after 66 minutes, Hashim Domingo doubled the lead by taking advantage of a series of errors.
Salim Magoola, a Ugandan-born goalie for Richards Bay, made a reckless throw that was intercepted, and the resulting goalmouth melee cost the home team a chance to clear the ball.
Later, Magoola made another mistake by failing to catch the ensuing low cross, and Domingo was perfect from close range.
Mbulelo Wambi and Kagiso Malinga scored goals as Soweto’s Swallows defeated sixth-place Chippa United 2-0 at home to move out of the relegation zone.
Nobody was happier with the outcome than Ernst Middendorp, a German who took over as Swallows’ third coach this season last month after losing his first two games.
