Leopards kiss goodbye to Nedbank Cup

Black Leopards were booted out of the Nedbank Cup KO competition by Mamelodi Sundowns, who narrowly beat them 0-1 at the Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Leopards showed no respect to their elder brothers from the onset. The game was only two minutes old when the Leopards' left flank, Khethowakhe Masuku, made his presence felt. He unleashed a ground cutter from the 35 meter area that saw the Sundowns' keeper, Brian Baloyi, stretch to the limit to make a brilliant save. Masuku's co-striker, Samson Mofokeng, suffered the pain of watching his volley missing the goal mouth by inches. Lidoda duvha kept on splitting the defence of Sundowns through their quality passes, but their fast forwards were evidently unlucky. The Brazilians' first real chance was in the 29th minute. Bennedict Vilakazi tried his luck after receiving a pre-cooked pass from Patson Mmotong. The Leopards' goalie, Ayanda Mtshali, was no in mood to be beaten as he moved like a well-oiled machine to display a brilliant save. Mtshali was called to action again seven minutes later when he palmed Patson Mmotong's volley away for a corner. Leopards were awarded a free kick in injury time of the first half. It was the Sundowns' keeper, Brian Baloyi, who again denied them what everybody thought was a goal. Baloyi blocked the ball from crossing the goal line and the Leopards' strikers, Walter Ramulondi and Samson Mofokeng, who were standing by, watched in disbelief as Baloyi made a double save in front of them. Sundowns' Zimbabwean international, Esrom Nyandoro, beat Ayanda Mtshali with a volley five minutes before the final whistle to give his side a 1-0 victory.