Mamelodi Sundowns may have played for about 80 minutes with ten after Brian Onyango was sent off in a Caf Champions League match against Al-Hilal Omdurman on Saturday, but they managed to outsmart the Sudanese side and beat them 4-2 in in a thrilling affair in Sudan.
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Sundowns had already qualified for the quarterfinals, and now have 13 points from five matches in Group A.
Onyango was sent off in the 11th minute, forcing Downs coach to sacrifice Themba Zwane and bring in Grant Kekana to slot in the last line of defence. Zwane had already done his bit anyway as he assisted the opener in the 2nd minute. Peter Shalulile scored the first goal for Masandawana.
Some 28 minutes later, the visitors doubled up through Teboho Mokoena, who banged in a sublime free-kick as Downs went into the break two goals to the good. At the start of the second half, Al-Hilal launched a fight back and got a goal through striker Yasir Mohamed. He managed to play a dummy before taking his shot, which left his markers flat-footed when he unleashed the shot past Reyaad Pieterse.
Downs quickly responded with a third goal to create some breathing space. Thapelo Morena took his chance well, but the hard labour was done by Lesedi Kapinga, who delivered a well-timed ball over the midfield and defensive lines of Hilal, putting Morena on his bike.
In the latter stages of the game, substitute Neo Maema made his mark in the match with an assist to Morena, who completed a double and scored Downs’ fourth, but that was not the end of the action as the man in the middle handed the hosts a penalty in stoppage time. Pieterse did well to keep out Yousif Abdelrahman’s spot kick, but could not deny Mokhtar Eltayib who scored from the rebound in what was an eventful affair.
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