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Sundowns ladies through to Caf Women’s Champions League semis
Sundowns finished at the summit of the group with seven points.
Nonhlanhla Mthandi of Mamelodi Sundowns challenged by Sanaa Mssoudy of ASFAR Club during the 2021 TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League match at Al Salam Stadium. (Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)
Mamelodi Sundowns ladies qualified for the semi-finals of the Caf Women’s Champions League after playing to a goalless draw with Asfar Club of Morocco in the final Group B game at the El Salam Stadium in Cairo on Friday.
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Sundowns ladies finished at the summit of the group with seven points, while Asfar ended in second place with four points and they also reached the last four.
Rivers Angels of Nigeria and Vihiga Queens are tied on three points, but Angels occupy third place due to a better goal difference.
Sundowns created better chances in the first half, while Asfar enjoyed more ball possession. A forward pass to Andisiwe Mgcoyi presented the South Africans with a chance to put her side in the lead in the seventh minute, but Asfar shot-stopper Khadija Er-rmichi was quick out of her line to make a clearance.
That was before Boitumelo Rabale’s well taken set-piece from way out of the box saw her being denied by the cross-bar minutes later, as Asfar survived again.
But, the Morrocans continued with their neat play and made some threats of their own. Some nice footwork by Sanaa Mssoudy saw the midfielder curling the ball towards goals, but it went just wide Andile Dlamini’s goal.
The North Africans would finish the half strongly with Aziza Rabbah and Fatima Tagnout finding spaces and taking shots at goals, but nothing could separate the two teams going into half-time.
Just before the half hour mark, Asfar almost broke the deadlock following a clever free-kick by Tagnout and Ghizlane Chebback, but Chebback’s attempt hit the poles.
Asfar came close to scoring once again following a counter attack, but Downs defence was quick to recover.
Downs weren’t sleeping either as they continued to fight for a goal. Mgcoyi had a chance at goals in the 75th minute, but the striker’s shot went off target.
With time running out, it was all about game management for Downs, who only needed a point to qualify for the next stage, as both sides finished without finding the back of the net.
