Mamelodi Sundowns lost 2-1 to Wydad Athletic Club in the first leg of the African Football League (AFL) final at a packed Shade Mohamed V in Casablanca on Sunday night.
While they would be pleased to have scored the away goal courtesy of a penalty converted by Moroccan defender Abdelmounaim Boutouil, the Brazilians will no doubt rue their having allowed their adversaries a second goal shortly after they had restored parity.
Sundowns conceded first when Rivaldo Coetzee scored an own goal on 41 minutes as he stretched his leg out to try and block a cross by Montassir Lahtimi who had made a brilliant run before he skinned Boutouil and then forcing Lesiba Nku to show him his number with a shimmy.
Those two eliminated, Lahtimi delivered a ground cross which Coetzee tried to clear but succeeded in only directing the ball into his own net.
Frenetic second half
In a frenetic second half that saw Sundowns playing much better than they did in the first, they got the equaliser after Wydad captain Yahya Jabrane blocked a Teboho Moloena shot with his outstretched arm inside the box. The spot kick was given after consultation with the VAR and Boutouil made no mistake as his powerful shot found the back of the net on 74 minutes.
But almost immediately thereafter, Sundowns allowed Wydad to restore their lead as they pussy-footed with the ball in their danger area and substitute Anas Serrhat smashed home the second goal with a powerful shot from the edge of the box, to beat Ronwen Williams whose punch only helped the ball in.
Wydad nearly scored a third on 86 minutes, but Libya's Hamoud Elhouni saw his shot ricochet off the crossbar with Williams beaten.
While it was a pretty tight opening stanza, the hosts always appeared the more dangerous of the two sides when they went forward.
They were particularly threatening whenever their winger Lahtimi was in possession as his skills were too hard for the Sundowns defenders to contend with.
As early as the seventh minute he gave a glimpse of things to come as he skinned Boutouil and then beat Grant Kekana only for his shot to be blocked by Coetzee.
A little too comfortable
But four minutes before the break, he repeated the dose and came right.
Sundowns, playing most of the half under pressure, were solid defensively then as they comfortably dealt with the Wydad attacks, sometimes way too comfortably as they passed the ball around in the box to get out of defensive positions.
They had no shot on target although they made a shout in vain for a penalty after Nku appeared to be tripped from behind after being sent through on goal via a lofted pass over the Wydad defence. Consultation with the VAR showed there was no contact from the defender.
Sundowns will no doubt believe they can beat Wydad at Loftus in the second leg clash next Sunday afternoon.