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Mamelodi Sundowns defeated EC Bees 2-1 in a Nedbank Cup last-16 clash played at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Pretoria team won through to the quarter-finals of the competition, but they never had it all their own way as they were made to sweat for victory by the plucky Eastern Cape ABC Motsepe League side.
Sundowns were expected to dominate possession and territory against their lower division opponents, and that was the way it turned out. They were in their stride early on, with Jeremie Brockie going close with a header.
But, Sundowns soon discovered the difficulty of playing against teams who sit back and soak up the pressure – they are always very dangerous on the counter. And it was on one such break that Bees took a surprise lead with a goal by Joseph Chikila.
Stunned, Sundowns had no choice but to inject greater urgency into their game. They created numerous scoring opportunities, with Thokozani Sekotloung, Brockie and George Lebese all failing to make the most of their chances.
The Pretoria club was then forced into an early change when Anele Ngcongca picked up an injury and was replaced by Thapelo Morena in the 32nd minute.
It's all over from Loftus Versfeld Stadium, the Brazilians come from behind to march into the next round of the Nedbank Cup.
Bees, though, hung in with great determination and showed fantastic resolve in defence in the face of relentless pressure. Just before the break, Sundowns had two more inviting opportunities for Anthony Laffor and Lebese, but, on both occasions, they were denied by fine saves from Bees goalkeeper Khanya Mini.
But it was only a matter of time before Sundowns’ dominance paid dividends. Seconds into the second half it was 1-1 when Hlompho Kekana unleashed a trademark long-range effort that cannoned into the net.
With parity restored, Sundowns went all out in search of a winner – Kekana tried his luck from range again, Laffor skewed a shot wide and Brockie was denied by a good tackle in the penalty area.
The goal had to come, however, and Sundowns duly netted the winner in the 75th minute when Brockie produced a superb pass for Morena to steer the ball into the net.

(Sulom) has disclosed that the 2018 season would kick off on April 15, just a week after the Annual General Meeting (AGM) slated for April 7 in Mangochi District.
The dates follow an Executive Committee meeting which the league governing body held in Lilongwe over the weekend to do a postmortem of the 2017 season.
Sulom Treasurer, Tiya Somba- Banda, on Monday confirmed the development.
“Between now and April, there would be a number of activities such as ground inspection and meeting some stakeholders, including referees,” Somba-Banda said.
During the meeting, Sulom also discussed the possibility of providing a starter-pack to league champions, who wish to participate in Caf Champions League.
The fund has been proposed following the struggles of Be Forward Wanderers when they ventured into the 2018 Caf Champions League campaign after being drawn against AS Vita of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nyasa Big Bullets also struggled financially when they participated in the 2015 Champions League.
Silver Strikers General Secretary, Thabo Nyirenda, said it was good news that, finally, the date for the AGM had been set.
“There are several issues which need to be tackled before the start of the season. For instance, we need to address gate revenue challenges as well as broadcasting rights’ issue,” Nyirenda said.
Nyirenda said clubs also expect the AGM to fill vacant positions at Sulom.
The position of vice-chairperson is vacant after Daud Suleiman resigned to join Football Association of Malawi as an Executive Committee member.
Nyasa Big Bullets Chief Executive Officer, Fleetwood Haiya, said although Sulom was yet to communicate to them on the dates of league’s kick-off and the AGM, he welcomed the proposed schedule.
In 2017, Sulom failed to hold the AGM due to what they called ‘lack of funds’. Sulom last held such a meeting in 2016.

BOTSWANA

SPORTS NEWS-The President of the Botswana Football Association (BFA), Maclean Letshwiti has finally broken his silence over the numerous sporadic attack launched by former Zebras coach, Peter James Butler on local football administrators.
Speaking to BG Sport this week, the reluctant Letshwiti said “As much as I wish to avoid public spat with our former employee, Mr Butler, but as the custodian of Botswana football, I have an obligation to protect the reputation and integrity of Botswana football, especially our secretariat and stakeholders.”
“As a proponent of free speech, I believe that every statement made should be factual to demonstrate credence and responsibility, and therefore incessant and sporadic social and public media attacks on my administration and BFA secretariat, which lack decency and courtesy, cannot continue unabated or unchallenged.”He notes, “My position is that if Butler feels aggrieved or hard done, then as a professional, he is aware of the right channels to communicate his grievances, in line with existing labour structures or even seek redress with CAF, FIFA and the courts of law.” The candid Letshwiti calls on Butler to stop uttering statements, which, in his view, are tantamount to bringing the game of football into disrepute, and of course deliberately cause injury to some of the BFA personnel.
He cautions Butler that the BFA is on the verge of lodging a formal complaint for unprofessional conduct with all governing bodies such as Confederation of African Football (CAF), FIFA and even the UEFA which gave him a Pro License A.
However, Letshwiti acknowledges Butler’s passion for youth development structures programmes.
“He has always been passionate about developing our future stars, and it was my intention to retain him had it not been for his terms and conditions, which I found difficult to accept. For instance, he told me to expel some of the contracted secretariat staff as part of his conditions of accepting the renewal of his contract. I told him that it was not possible as they had done nothing to warrant the calls for expulsion.
Butler who possesses a UEFA Pro License has never given Maclean Letshwiti administration any credit ever since it became clear that he was not the preferred candidate for the two top technical positions of Technical Director and senior national team head coach at Lekidi House -the BFA headquarters. Butler has been consistent on his calls for a regime change at the BFA. In his own words, and in response to a recent BG Sport questionnaire, the english coach claims he has no axe to grind against anybody, nor is he interested in taking over the position, but he just loves this country and is worried that BFA Technical Director, Matshidiso Kowa and national team coach David Bright are not qualified to hold their positions. Butler has also made some unsubstantiated claims that one of the Serbian coaches working for a local premier league side in Botswana has forged his documents.

Mourinho suggests Martial is short on chances LONDON, England - Jose Mourinho says Anthony Martial will be given the opportunity to rescue his Manchester United career but suggested time is running out for the French forward. Martial has struggled to sustain form since Mourinho’s arrival at Old Trafford and the 21-year-old has not even been included as a substitute in United’s last two outings. Martial was signed from Monaco by previous manager Louis van Gaal for £36m last summer. He was United’s top-scorer last season, with 17 goals from 49 appearances but his progress has slowed during this campaign. He has scored six goals from 23 outings under Mourinho and there is speculation the France international will be allowed to leave at the right price. After edging past Hull to reach the EFL Cup final on Thursday, United face Championship club Wigan at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round. The Red Devils then face Hull again in the Premier League on Wednesday. When asked how Martial had reacted to being left out of his most recent squad, Mourinho said: “I don’t know. I don’t speak with the players about how they take it. “He will play Sunday and, if Sunday he plays magnificent, he will play against Hull City the next match. It’s simple.” United’s run to the EFL Cup final, combined with involvement in the Europa League means they are the only Premier League club still involved in four competitions and Mourinho has already begun to grumble about possible fixture congestion in this second half of the season. Yet Mourinho fielded arguably his strongest team in both semi-final legs against Hull and says he will resist the temptation to rotate heavily against Wigan. Luke Shaw, the England defender, will be involved, as will Sergio Romero, while first-choice goalkeeper David De Gea is given a break. “The challenge is the next match and the next match is the FA Cup,” Mourinho said. “Second match for us in the FA Cup and we are going to do… in a serious way too. “We know the difficulty to play against a Championship team. We played already Wigan in pre- season. They will bring lots of fans too, so the match is going to be difficult. “We have to play with a very good team. The only player who is out is De Gea, I give him a few days off. I play Romero. I put Joel (Pereira) on the bench and, apart from that, I go with a good team because we want to try to beat them. “It will be a tough match. I will make some changes, that’s obvious. I have to. We play Hull City again two days after Wigan. But I’m going to play with a good team, a team with the responsibility to give the fans a good performance at home and with the responsibility to try to win against Wigan.” The visit of Wigan, who are 21st in the Championship, will bring a familiar face back to Old Trafford. They are managed by Warren Joyce, who was part of United’s coaching staff from 2008 until departing for the DW Stadium in November last year. “He knows us, he will come with special motivation to play against his old club,” Mourinho said. “I worked with him just for a few months but that was enough to know he’s a very nice man, a very passionate football man. He took the risk, he accepted the challenge. “He left a good situation in our club to try to go what we call ‘men’s football’ and, for sure, he will come with a team that’s very aggressive, well organised defensively, emotional – the manager is also emotional.”