Mamelodi Sundowns pulled off a shock result defeating defending champions Al Ahly 1-0 in their CAF Champions League Group A encounter at the Cairo International Stadium in Cairo on Saturday.
Thapelo Morena scored the only goal of the game inn the 85th minute lashing in a shot from inside the penalty box past Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
This was just Sundowns’ second victory against their Egyptian rivals in 11 meetings, all in the Champions League. The only other success was a 5-0 win in their quarterfinal first-leg meeting in 2019: Al Ahly’s heaviest defeat in African club competition.
More significantly, this was Sundowns’ first win against Al Ahly in Egypt with the Egyptian side having triumphed on all previous five meetings at home.
Prior to this, neither side had defeated the other away from home.
The other group game saw Al-Merreikh defeat Al-Hilal Omdurman 2-1 in a Sudanese derby in Omdurman with Elsamani Saadeldin scoring twice for the home side.
Sundowns, winners in 2016, top the group with seven points from three matches followed by Al-Merreikh with four points followed by Al Ahly and Al-Hilal Omdurman respectively with one point each.
In Group D, Wydad Athletic Club came from a goal down to beat Zamalek 3-1 in Casablanca. Zizo gave the visitors a third-minute lead only for the home side to hit back through Zouheir El Moutaraji, Amine Farhane and Yahya Jabrane.
Meanwhile, Petro Atletico edged 10-man Sagrada 1-0 in an All-Angolan tie in Luanda to remain top of the group with seven points. Wydad lies second a further point behind while Zamalek is third with two points and Sagrada is bottom with one point.
In Group C, Tunisian rivals Esperance and Etoile du Sahel played out a goalless draw in Radès while Algeria’s CR Belouizdad picked up its first win of the campaign with a 2-1 victory away to Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy.
Esperance is joint top with CR Belouizdad on five points followed by Etoile du Sahel, who have drawn all their matches so far, with three points and Jwaneng Galaxy with a solitary point.
Moroccan side Raja Athletic Club remains the only side to have won all its three matches after edging out Horoya AC 1-0 in their Group B match in Casablanca on Friday.
South African side Amazulu made it two wins from three matches with a 1-0 win at home to ES Setif in Durban.
Raja tops Group B with a maximum nine points followed by Amazulu with six points then ES Setif and Horoya with three points and zero points, respectively.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)
