Al Ahly end ’Downs’ streak

Al Ahly ................. 2

Sundowns ............ 2

CAIRO – It was billed as a match that was going to be a stern test for Rulani Mokwena and his Mamelodi Sundowns team and the South African champions did just enough not to fail the Al Ahly exam.

This after Sundowns put in a brave performance to hold desperate Ahly to a 2-2 draw in a CAF Champions League group stage clash at Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo last night.

Mohamed Abdelmonem and Hussein El Shahat scored for the Egyptian while Peter Shalulile and Thapelo Morena found the back of the net for Sundowns. This was the first time Sundowns failed to win a match since Mokwena became sole head coach in October.

Sundowns had proved to be unstoppable both in the Premier Soccer League and on the continental stage where they had recorded victories against Al-Hilal of Sudan and Coton Sport of Cameroon in the group stages. Ahly were desperate not to lose the fixture as it would have meant a disaster for their campaign after losing their first group stage match to Hilal.

FORCED

They remain third in the group with just one point from two outings, but they have played one game less compared to second-place Hilal who have six points. For the first time in a long time, Sundowns were forced to play mostly in their own half with almost all their players behind the ball.

Even their most prized asset at the moment, Cassius Mailula, was at times seen lending help at the back.

In the Premier Soccer League, it’s normally Sundowns’ opponents that sit back and try not to concede a lot of goals. It looked like their plan for the game was to catch Ahly on counterattack and they looked dangerous when they did.

Ahly created a number of chances in the opening but their attackers failed to hit the target and when they did, Sundowns’ goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was always ready to avert the danger. Shalulile broke the deadlock with a tap in after being set up by Mailula on 34 minutes.

Ahly had a great chance to pull one back when Mothobi Mvala brought down fellow South African Percy Tau inside the box on 51 and the referee gave the host a penalty. However, Williams produced a fine save to deny Mohamed Hany from the spot.

Masandawana remain top of Group B with seven points from three outings so far.

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