Mamelodi Sundowns laboured to a 3-1 victory over DR Congo club St Eloi Lupopo in the opening group stage match of the CAF Champions League at Loftus Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
New arrival Nuno Santos was the hero after he scored a brace for the Brazilians.
Sundowns made life difficult for themselves when they could have clobbered the hapless visitors who were there for the taking all afternoon. The home side dominated Lupopo, who were rather more competitive when they faced Orlando Pirates in the preliminary round of the same tournament. Lupopo knocked the Buccaneers out and booked their spot in the group stage – but against Masandawana, they were a little bit average and did not pose any danger.
Sundowns opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute via Nuno Santos who capitalised on a brilliant pass from midfield. Tashreeq Matthews and Iqraam Rayners could have added their names on the scoreboard, but they missed a lot of easy chances. Matthews, as usual, had two glaring opportunities to grab a goal but he saw his strikes go wide off the goalposts. Sundowns went into sleep mode on the stroke of halftime when they allowed Kashala to sneak in and squeeze the ball past Ronwem Williams.
Second stanza
Sundowns came back from the break fired up and Marcello Allende made it 2-1 with a well-worked goal after some neat inter-passing that opened the Lupopo defence in half on the hour mark.
Eighteen minutes later, Santos got his brace with a powerful header from Arthur Sales, giving the home side maximum points in a match they could have won without breaking a sweat.
This season, after things did not work out in last season’s campaign, Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso made it a point to recruit fellow countrymen Santos and Miguel Reisinho, who have seemingly adapted well to African football and have hit the ground running.
“I always said that entering Mamelodi Sundowns is an easier process than in other clubs. The club is very friendly. The players are very friendly to each other,” Cardoso said on the adaptation of the Portuguese duo.
“I think that it’s clear for all of us that Nuno has made a very good adaptation to South Africa and to the football that is played here,” he added.
Sundowns will now want to rest and work on their recovery, as they are due for a long flight to Algeria this week to face former coach Rulani Mokwena’s side, who are still licking their wounds following their loss to Al Hilal on Friday.
