Iqraam Rayners the hero as Mamelodi Sundowns hold off Ulsan HD to top Fifa Club World Cup group

MAMELODI Sundowns beat Ulsan HD 1-0 in their opening match of the Fifa Club World Cup on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning South African time) to go top of their group after the favourites Borussia Dortmund and Fluminense drew their match in the United States of America.

Iqraam Rayners scored the match’s only goal to walk away with the Superior Man of the Match award as Keano Cupido pulled off a superb tackle late in the game to ensure there was no late drama to deny the Brazilians victory at the Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

It was the kind of last-ditch clearance that could so easily have been reminiscent of the own goal Cupido’s father Greg scored way back in the 1986 Mainstay Cup final to give Sundowns victory over his Jomo Cosmos.

An Ulsan attack from the right saw a shot beating Ronwen Williams, and as the ball trickled towards the empty net, an on-rushing Cupido stretched full length to direct it away as an Ulsan striker loomed large looking to slide it in.

That was the victory secured in a match that Sundowns could well have won at a canter.

The South African champions could well have been over as a contest by halftime, with the Brazilians having breached the Ulsan defence three times.

Rayners opened the scoring on 36 minutes with a right-footed toe-poke from close range, after he’d received a typically sublime through-pass from Ribeiro.

Yet the Capetonian could have had a first-half hat-trick, as he got the ball into the net on two other occasions, only for VAR to rule out those strikes.

The initial one came just before the half-hour mark after he’d forced a corner kick with a shot from close range, which the Ulsan defender deflected away from goal.

Ribeiro sent the set-piece right at the near post, and Rayners reacted quickest to the ball, but VAR showed the ball had come off his arm before going over the line past the flailing goalkeeper HW Cho.

He made amends some seven minutes later, though, and thought he’d scored a second just shortly thereafter when his combination with Ribeiro again pierced the Ulsan defensive line open.

The Brazilian’s magic shone through yet again as he delivered yet another pinpoint pass to send Rayners sailing through, and the striker made no mistake in finding the net.

It, however, turned out that he’d steered a fraction offside prior to Ribeiro releasing the ball, and the goal was annulled.

The match was delayed for a little over an hour due to adverse weather conditions – there was an ominous threat of lightning – with the teams having to go back into the dressing room after the players were introduced onto the pitch one-by-one.

The hold-up had no negative effect on Sundowns as they started the match sprightly and nearly scored on 23 seconds, but had their shot from Arthur Sales cleared away, and their calls for handball got waved off.

While they dominated play in the initial quarter hour, Miguel Cardoso’s men played somewhat cockily, and often chose to make what appeared to be difficult passes – a ploy that led to them being under unnecessary pressure.

As a result, Themba Zwane, surprisingly starting the match after Cardoso iced him out of the CAF Champions League final, conceded a free kick on the edge of the box, but Derjan Bojanic wasted it.

The Croatian then shot tamely at Williams from right in front of the box after Sundowns’ casual play saw them lose possession.

It was soon the Ribeiro-Rayners show, though, as the striking duo combined to find the Ulsan net on those three occasions, albeit just once legally.

Teboho Mokoena nearly made it 2-0 with his trademark free-kick two minutes before the break, but the keeper was alert and punched the ball away for a corner kick.

There was a scare for Sundowns on the stroke of halftime when Seungbeom Ko managed to draw Williams away from goals and then attempted a deft lob, but Divine Lunga used his head to clear that ball that looked to be going in.

The biggest scare, however, was that one late in the match, which saw Cupido only just managing to kick the ball away from the open goal, and ensured Sundowns an historic victory at the Club World Cup to go top of the table.