Mamelodi Sundowns made sure the Absa Premiership title race will go down to the wire after a 3-0 victory over Polokwane City at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday.
Anele Ngcongca, Themba Zwane got the all-important goals in the first half while Keletso Makgalwa rounded off the scoring minutes before the final whistle.
Sundowns (53 points) will go into the final round of league matches level on points with log leaders Kaizer Chiefs (53 points), who won 1-0 against Chippa United, with Amakhosi sitting on top by virtue of having a better goal difference.
Masadawana, knowing the importance of the game, came quickly out of the blocks with Prince Mkhuma testing Polokwane goalkeeper George Chigova as early as the third minute.
Rise and Shine showed though that they were dangerous going forward with Mohammed Anas drawing a good save from Kennedy Mweene after 10 minutes.
Sundowns though were in control of proceedings and Motjeka Madisha had an effort cleared off the line while Lebohang Maboe was denied by Chigova.
The defending league champions took the lead in the 39th minute when Anele Ngcongca scored after pouncing on a follow-up after an initial header by Ricardo Nascimento was saved following a set-piece.
Masadawana doubled their advantage a minute before the half-time break as Themba Zwane glided past a static Polokwane defence and hit a left-footed shot past Chigova.
Polokwane posed little danger to the Sundowns defence in the second half with only Anas going close again in the 80th minute.
Substitute Makgalwa put the icing on the cake for Masandawana when he tucked home on the stroke of full-time to seal a comfortable but important victory.
Polokwane, meanwhile, are all but relegated with them needing a win against Bidvest Wits and dramatic swing in goal difference on the final day to survive the drop.
On Saturday the Brazilians will entertain a relegation threatened Black Leopards (14th position) while Amakhosi are away to Baroka FC (15th position).
Kick-off for all the matches will be at 15:30.
- TEAMtalk media