Sundowns advance to Champions League semi-finals

Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane celebrates with fans after their 5-0 thrashing of Al Ahly in a Champions League first leg quarter-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville a week ago. Photo: Gavin Barker BackpagePix

Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane celebrates with fans after their 5-0 thrashing of Al Ahly in a Champions League first leg quarter-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville a week ago. Photo: Gavin Barker BackpagePix

Published Apr 13, 2019

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ALEXANDRIA 

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mso-no-proof:yes">– 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.

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 centre 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.

African News Agency (ANA)

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