Sundowns advance to Champions League semifinals despite loss to Al Ahly
Mamelodi Sundowns advanced to the semifinals of the CAF Champions League despite going down 1-0 to Al Ahly of Egypt in a quarterfinal second-leg match of the continental club tournament played in Alexandria, Egypt, on Saturday evening.
Wayne Arendse of Sundowns celebratesa goal during the 2018/19 CAF Champions League football match between Sundowns and Al Ahly at Lucas Moripe Stadium. (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
A 67th-minute header from Moroccan midfielder Walid Azarou proved to be the only goal of the game, in a match in which the hosts needed to score at least five goals without conceding. This followed their humiliating 5-0 defeat to Sundowns in Atteridgeville near Pretoria last weekend.
Sundowns No 1 Denis Onyango was definitely the busier of the two goalkeepers as Al Ahly took the game to the visitors in search of remedying the embarrassment from the first-leg match.
In front of Onyango, the Sundowns defence did their best to hold out, with center back Ricardo Nascimento proving to be a tower of strength in blocking out several Al Ahly raids on goal.
When Sundowns did push forward, there seemed to be slight hesitance of being caught out of position if the ball was lost, although Themba Zwane and Lebogang Maboe did cause a few headaches for their opponents in midfield.
Sundowns will now change their focus back to the domestic league, as they prepare to host SuperSport United in a Tshwane derby on Wednesday.
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