The Mamelodi Sundowns juggernaut kept rolling forward on Friday with a dominant 4-1 victory over Orlando Pirates in their DStv Premiership clash at the Loftus Versfeld stadium.
Themba Zwane, Pavol Safranko, with a brace, and Peter Shalulile were all on target for Masandawana, who now have 13 wins and four draws from 17 matches played this season.
A fifth consecutive league title looks a mere formality for the Tshwane club with them already establishing an 18-point lead over nearest rivals Kaizer Chiefs.
The defending champions started brightly and Thapelo Morena had the first chance of the game but he volleyed over the over from a Lyle Lakay cross.
Dean Hotto had an opportunity to give them the Buccaneers the lead but the forward pulled his left-footed effort wide.
In the 36th minute, Shalulile was played in by Andile Jali but the forward stumbled after a challenge by Pirates defender Bandile Shandu and hit the shot wide of goal.
Pirates would have been the happier of the teams as the game remained goalless going into the halftime break.
There’s no stopping Peter Shalulile in front of goal 🔥
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) December 17, 2021
He is the only in the #DStvPrem to have scored 13 or more goals in each of the last three seasons.
📺 Stream live: https://t.co/0BMWdeEYT3 pic.twitter.com/55ZfsE0NVE
It all changed after the interval though as Sundowns added four goals in a dominant half of football.
The home side opened the scoring in the 51st minute when Lakay floated a free-kick into the box that found the head of Shalulile, who headed across goal that allowed Zwane a simple tap-in.
It was a landmark goal for the midfielder as it was his 50th strike for the Brazilians.
The lead was doubled 10 minutes later, and it was from another set-piece, as Lakay whipped in a corner that saw substitute Safranko send a powerful header past Pirates goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane.
It was 3-0 after 73 minutes after Zwane played a through ball to Shalulile who was taken down by Mpontshane but Safranko was on hand to finish and complete his brace.
Shalulile scored the fourth goal of the game in the 76th minute with Lakay completing a hat-trick of assists, the left-footer again finding the forward on the far-post who made no mistake finding the back of the net.
Fortune Makaringe scored a consolation goal for the Buccaneers in injury time but the Soweto club remain third in the standings, one point behind Chiefs.
