Laffor goal takes Downs into quarterfinals
TITLE-HOLDERS Mamelodi Sundowns, and Esperance and Etoile Sahel, of Tunisia, became the first qualifiers for the Caf Champions League quarterfinals on Saturday.
Gangling Liberian Anthony Laffor scored five minutes from time to earn Sundowns a 1-0 Group C victory over Saint George, of Ethiopia, in a packed 30 000-capacity Addis Ababa stadium.
Saint George, the first Ethiopian side to reach the group stage of the premier African club competition, wasted a great chance to take the lead on the stroke of half time.
Sundowns defender Anele Ngcongca handled the ball inside the box, but a timidly struck penalty from leading 2017 Champions League scorer Saladin Said was parried to safety by Denis Onyango.
Esperance led and trailed against V Club, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Kinshasa during a 2-2 draw in which home player Makwekwe Kupa was red-carded just before the hour.
Tunisian Taha Yassine Khenissi continued his hot form for club and country by scoring on 10 minutes in the Stade des Martyrs.
Tady Etekiama, who once served a two-year ban for falsifying his age and using a fake passport, bagged a brace within eight minutes and V Club led 2-1 at half time.
Needing maximum points to keep alive hopes of squeezing into the quarterfinals after the final round next week, V Club were hit by a double blow.
Kupa was sent off and Esperance levelled almost immediately when Khenissi converted a penalty.
Esperance have nine points, Sundowns eight, Saint George five and V Club four – with the South Africans assured of a top-two finish on head-tohead records.
Etoile Sahel drew a third consecutive Group A game, but the 1-1 stalemate with Ferroviario Beira in Mozambique was sufficient to ensure a quarterfinals berth.
Chelito Omar gave Ferroviario a 72nd-minute lead and Slim Ben Belgacem equalised by converting a penalty six minutes from time.
In the other match in the group, a Mohamed Abdel Rahman brace gave Al Merrikh a 2-1 victory over Al Hilal in a clash of Sudanese giants.
Former champions Etoile have nine points, Merrikh seven, Ferroviario five and twice runners-up Hilal four.
There is a gripping Group D struggle for two last-eight places after Zanaco, of Zambia, and Al Ahly, of Egypt, drew 0-0 and Wydad Casablanca, of Morocco, won 2-0 at Coton Sport, of Cameroon.
Zanaco have 11 points, Wydad nine and record eighttime champions Ahly eight, while Coton are pointless after five defeats.