Sundowns midfielder Ndlovu promises all-out effort to overturn Arrows deficit

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Siyanda Ndlovu says his side will “fight with all we have” when they attempt to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Golden Arrows in the MTN8 semi-final at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday.

The second leg will begin at 15:00, with Sundowns needing a victory to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive. They were beaten at home in the opening match and must now find a way through an Arrows defence that has yet to concede in six matches this season across all competitions.

That defensive record presents a significant challenge for Masandawana, who will have to produce another attacking display after scoring five times in their most recent outing.

“I think it’s a big game and it won’t be easy, but what I can promise is that we are going to fight with all we have,” Ndlovu told the club media department.

“We need to score goals like we did against AmaZulu, if we can score more goals, then that will help us to win.”

Sundowns defeated AmaZulu 5-3 in a league fixture on Wednesday. Ndlovu believes the performance demonstrated the attacking quality that will be required against Golden Arrows, who are expected to defend in a low block and protect their advantage.

“I think they will try to use the strategy they used in the previous game, but this time we will be able to get over that,” Ndlovu said.

The midfielder acknowledged that the victory against AmaZulu was not straightforward, despite the number of goals scored by Sundowns.

“It was not an easy game [against AmaZulu], but we managed the game well with the guys and scored a lot of goals.

“The way we gave it looked like the game was easy, but we managed to score a lot of goals [because of] the way we’ve been playing.”

Sundowns must win 1-0 to force the semi-final to a penalty shootout. Any victory by a margin greater than one goal will send them through to the final, while Golden Arrows will advance if they avoid defeat.

The result leaves Sundowns under pressure in the return fixture, particularly against an Arrows team that has maintained a perfect defensive record at the start of the campaign. Their task is made more difficult by the need to score against opponents who have already demonstrated their ability to preserve a lead.

Wednesday’s eight-goal league match offered Sundowns encouragement in attack, but they will need to combine that threat with greater defensive control as they chase the result required to progress. Golden Arrows, meanwhile, can reach the final simply by avoiding a loss at home.

The match will take place at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday at 3pm.

Sowetan reported that the story audio was generated using AI.