No lasers, flares and hostility formed against the South African champions could prosper as Mamelodi Sundowns prevailed against Esperance to reach the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.
Sundowns beat the Tunisian giants 1-0 on aggregate, following their goalless draw at the Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi in Rades, Tunisia, on Tuesday night.
Masandawana join Egyptian sides Al Ahly and Pyramids in the semis, who were also both in action. The last vacant spot will be competed for by MC Alger and Orlando Pirates on Wednesday evening at the Orlando Stadium.
The Buccaneers will be going into the encounter with a 1-0 lead and an away goal advantage.
Sundowns themselves went into the encounter with an upper hand after getting the job done at home last week. So, as expected, Esperance approached the game differently and not as passively as they did in Tshwane, where they sat back and defended the entire game.
This time, in front of their rowdy supporters, the Blood and Gold started like a house on fire by threatening Sundowns’ goal and forcing the reigning African Goalkeeper of the Year, Ronwen Williams, to make a big save in the opening stages of the game.
However, Miguel Cardoso’s troops gradually grew into the game and looked more like the Sundowns everyone knows by weathering the early threat and storm.
At the stroke of halftime, Lucas Ribeiro and Marcelo Allende almost came close to scoring, with Allende coming the closest when he had a go at the Esperance goalkeeper, but his strike from a long way out rattled the post to go into halftime all square.
Esperance picked up from where they left off and took the game to the Brazilians. The home side thought that they had finally broken the deadlock in the 60th minute, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened and ruled out the goal by fine margins.
Cardoso’s side held on until the last minute and advanced to the next stage of the competition to book a mouthwatering semi-final tie against foes Al Ahly, better known as the Team of the Century.
