Brian Lyon scored two goals for Sundowns in the first half, while Patrick Maswanganyi scored a consolation goal for Pirates.
Mamelodi Sundowns beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 in a top-of-the-table clash, reducing the Buccaneers' lead in the Betway Premiership table to just three points, with a game in hand on the Tshwane giants.
Brian Lyon scored two goals for Sundowns in the first half while Patrick Maswanganyi scored a consolation goal for Pirates in the second half in the match played at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night.
Also read: Official: Ex-Pirates defender Ndah joins the Staleys
The Buccaneers top the log table with 38 points from 17 matches, with the Brazilians placed second with 35 points from 16 matches.
Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouadou dubbed it the El Clásico of South African football and it certainly lived up to his expectations. The game was full of flair, skill and of course goals and the thousands of fans who flocked to the venue were treated to a fantastic performance.
Ronwen Williams was the busiest of the goalkeepers in the early stages of the match and had to make two vital saves to keep his team in the game. The Bafana Bafana number one was first called into action as early as the sixth minute when Dion Hotto took the first shot of the match in anger, but he used his feet to deflect the ball safely away.
Seven minutes later Williams made a point blank save to deny Yanela Mabuthuma's header as the hosts continued to ask questions of the Sundowns defence.
Pirates were to be punished by Sundowns for these minutes at the end of the first half when Lyon scored two goals in the space of four minutes.
The Colombian striker's first goal in 37th There was a touch of minute class. Sundowns players moved the ball around before passing it to Nuno Santos and the Portuguese midfielder found Lyon in the box with a defence-splitting pass and he beat Sipho Chen with a low shot to give Sundowns the lead.
Four minutes later, Lyon completed his brace when he pounced on Aubrey Modiba's precise cross from the left and slammed the ball home.
Mswangani almost pulled a goal back for Pirates just before the break, but his clever foot went over the crossbar
Pirates came out with guns blazing in the second half and it took just a minute and a few seconds for them to achieve their goal. Sundowns thought they had escaped a scare when Mbuthuma struck straight from the restart, but after failing to clear the danger, the ball fell into the path of Mswangani, who fired a powerful shot and the ball deflected off Teboho Mokoena and into the bottom corner.
Also read: Sundowns joins race for Arrows rising star
The Buccaneers tried hard to score an equaliser, but the Brazilian defense stood strong to take maximum points from home.
Support local journalism
Add The Citizen as a preferred source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and top stories.