Wounded Sundowns grind out Knockout victory against Gallants

Mamelodi Sundowns claimed a 1-0 win over Marumo Gallants in the Carling Knockout Round of 16 match played at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on Tuesday night.

The narrow victory saw Masandawana progress to the quarterfinals of the South African league cup.

Bafana Ba Style are back to winning ways as they secure their place in the #CarlingKnockoutCup Last 8️⃣! 🔥 Mamelodi Sundowns (20' Ndlovu) 1️⃣➖0️⃣ Marumo Gallants #Sundowns #NeverStopRising https://t.co/SH29YcWHPB — Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) October 27, 2026

The African champions will target back-to-back wins on Saturday when they host Durban City in Rustenburg in the Betway Premiership.

Gallants, on the other hand, saw their hopes of enjoying another good cup run end, after reaching last year’s final.

Bahlabane Ba Ntwa will be keen to ease their relegation fears in the Betway Premiership when they host Siwelele FC in Rustenburg on Friday.

Masandawana came out looking wounded following their shock CAF Champions League elimination, pressing Bahlabane Ba Ntwa high up the pitch and dominating possession in search of an early goal to unsettle the visitors.

The deadlock was broken in the 20th minute when Iqraam Rayners set up Siyanda Ndlovu, who finished with a thunderous shot at the near post to hand Sundowns a 1-0 lead at half-time and it was the attacking midfielder's third goal for the African champions.

Bahlabane Ba Ntwa played much better after the restart and finally tested Ricardo Goss in the 58th minute.

However, the Bafana Bafana international made a fine save to deny the visitors, prompting coach Miguel Cardoso to make a change.

Nuno Santos, the hero of Sundowns’ FIFA African-Asian Pacific Cup win, replaced Arthur Sales in the 65th minute as Sundowns looked to double their lead.

However, there were no goals in the second half, and the match ultimately ended in a 1-0 Sundowns win.

Sundowns (1) 1 (Ndlovu 20')

Gallants 0

Sundowns: Goss, Morena, Khoza, Mvala, Basadien (Modiba 46'), Cele (Allende 46'), Mkhulise (Matthews 75'), Sales (Santos 46'), Ndlovu, van Wyk (Saleng 83'), Rayners.

Gallants: Mlambo, Ncube (Otladisa 68'), Rikhotso, Manku, Motsoeneng, Ntiya-Ntiya, Pheena, Ndlondlo, Moremi (Moletshe 68'), Sihlali (Button 68'), Ndlovu (Mbhele 83').