Mamelodi Sundowns continued marching on without any obstacles on their way to booking a berth in the 2021/22 CAF Champions League quarter-finals stage with one game left to play after thrashing Sudanese side Al Hilal 4-1 at the Al-Hilal Stadium in Omdurman city in Sudan yesterday.
Before this clash Sundowns sat comfortably at the summit of the standings with 10 points but after the final whistle, were 13 points clear and looked much more composed while having the lion’s share of possession compared to the home side.
The visitors opened their account through Nambian striker Peter Shalulile, a man who has suddenly found his scoring boots.
Shalulile’s opener came from his left foot after he was set up by Themba Zwane with the game only two minutes old. Twenty-eight minutes later, a remarkable, long-range freekick from the recently-signed Tebogo Mokoena gave KaboYellow their first two-goal cushion.
With the proceedings only 11 minutes old, Brian Onyango saw red and was given his marching orders by Gambian referee Bakary Gassama, dealing the South African league champions a severe blow as they were now down to 10 men.
Al Hilal, the reigning defending champions, fought back throughout the first 45 minutes but could not match the more experienced Sundowns’ resilience, at times resorting to playing dirty but the visitors showed that they came prepared.
Early in the second phase, two goals separated by a margin of four minutes saw Al Hilal pulling one back via the boot of Yasir Mozami, who beat goalie Reyaad Pieterse 11 minutes from the restart. But Thapelo Morena had other ideas as he did not hesitate to unleash a pacy shot, leaving keeper Mohamed Saeed sprawled for their second two-goal cushion.
Towards the end, Morena got his brace with the clock signaling two minutes to full-time. The Downs defender, whose football career was nearly cut short by a devastating injury following a tackle three years ago, put the final nail into Al Hilal’s coffin when he clinched his brace by casually beating two defenders and slotting the ball home.
Al Hilal’s second goal came from a penalty spot late into added time but Mohamed Abdelrahman failed to bury it when Pieterse parried it back into play and Osman Mokhtar was on hand to finish it off.
Champions League:
Friday – AmaZulu 0, Raja Casablanca 2; Al Merrikh 1, A Ahly 3.
DStv Premiership: Yesterday – TS Galaxy 1 , SuperSport 1.
EPL: Yesterday – Aston Villa 0, Arsenal 1.
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