Mamelodi Sundowns moved to within a point of qualification to the quarterfinals of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League after completing a double over defending champions Al Ahly, beating them 1-0 in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The victory took Sundowns to 10 points, six ahead of Ahly, Al Merrikh and Al Hilal who are all on four points, with two rounds of matches left.
While Sundowns are comfortably wheeling into the last eight, holders Ahly now have a mountain to climb as they must win their last two games to enhance their hopes of making the quarters.
The South African side meanwhile replicated the same result they picked in Cairo last weekend, this time Peter Shalulile scoring a first half goal to secure the three points.
Shalulile hit the back of the net in the 23rd minute finishing off Lyle Lakay’s corner at the backpost, guiding the ball home with his thigh.
Ahly were restricted most of the opening half, and their only shot on target was through former SUndowns man Percy Tau whose low effort from outside the box was calmly collected by veteran Zambian keeper Kennedy Mweene.
In the second half, Sundowns had more chances and Mohamed Elshenawy had to be on his toes to keep his side in the game. He made a good full stretched save in the 63rd minute, pushing away Haashim Domingo’s effort for a corner.
He made another superb save in the 73rd minute, coming off his line to make his body big and block a shot from Pavol Safranko who had run into a brilliant through ball from Themba Zwane.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Ahly piled the pressure and had two golden chances. In the 80th minute, Mohamed Magdy Afsha collected the ball from distance but his drive at goal was calmly collected by the keeper.
Substitute Hossam Hassan had an even better chance with eight minutes left when a brilliant cross from Ali Maaloul found him unmarked but the striker flushed his header wide.
The Egyptian giants could not conjure a comeback despite increased pressure.
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