Sundowns still in the mix after Tunis draw
Pitso Mosimane pronounced himself satisfied with a point, after Mamelodi Sundowns held Esperance to a goalless draw in Tunis in the Caf Champions League group stages on Wednesday night.
Sundowns had an excellent first-half chance through Percy Tau, but in the end settled for a share of the spoils in the Tunisian capital.
It was an improvement on the 2-1 loss in Atteridgeville, and Mosimane credited this at least in part to the return of captain Hlompho Kekana and forwards Anthony Laffor and Yannick Zakri from injury.
“We played tactically well,” said Mosimane afterwards.
“The game was well organised from both teams. This is the kind of Champions League game you see when two teams are disciplined … we hoped we could have won, we only had one clear chance with Percy but we didn’t take it … but we played well.”
The result moves the Brazilians back into second place in Group C, ahead of Ethopia’s St George on goal difference, but still three points behind group leaders Esperance, with two games left. The top two sides in the group will reach the quarterfinals of this year’s expanded Champions League.
Sundowns must now avoid defeat in Ethiopia against St George on July 1 if they are to remain in contention. Conversely, they will reach the last eight with a game to spare if they win in Addis Ababa, and DR Congo’s AS Vita fail to beat Esperance in Kinshasa.
“You have to be clever and see the bigger picture and progress slowly until the sixth game is finished,” added the Sundowns head coach.
Meanwhile, in a Caf Confederation Cup group stages game on Wednesday night, Platinum Stars held another Tunisian giant, CS Sfaxien, to a 1-1 draw in Rustenburg. The result, however, leaves Dikwena still bottom of their group and virtually out of the running.