- Sundowns beat Cotonsport 3-1
- They have now won back to back matches
- They lead Group A with six points
South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, champions of the 2016 CAF Champions League, made it two wins in a row in their Group A fixtures after thrashing Cameroon’s Cotonsport 3-1 in Garoua.
Cassius Mailula starred for The Brazilians, scoring twice and assisting once in the mega victory. Thapelo Morena scored the other goal for Sundowns while Patient Gouegoue Wassou scored the consolation for the home side.
“I am really delighted but more so happy with how we played as a team. I might have scored but the other guys are doing brilliant as well and they are what makes this team succeed,” said Mailula after the match.
Within the opening 11 minutes, Sundowns had already secured hold of the game, racing to a 2-0 lead. Mailula scored the opener after nine minutes, his second goal in as many matches, and his 11th across all competitions.
Intercept sideways pass
The forward intercepted a sideways pass from Cotonsport defender Youssoufa Houzaifi before shooting low into the bottom right. Two minutes later, he set up Mailula for a second but the goal came off a brilliant team play.
Khuliso Mudau sent Mailula through on the right, the latter cutting back a cross which Morena back-heeled into the net.
The hosts almost halved the deficit after 20 minutes but Enock Djidjiwa saw his header come off the post.
They however drew one back on the half-hour mark when they turned over possession in midfield with Djawal Kaiba sending Wassou through on goal, the 19-year old scoring with a neat low shot.
But, Sundowns restored their two-goal margin, Mailula completing his brace two minutes to the break with a low finish past the keeper after racing to an Aubrey Modiba defense splitting pass.
In the second half, Sundowns continued to dominate and had the best of chances, Mudau’s shot from a cutback coming off the outside of the post while Sphelele Mkhulise blasted over one on one with the keeper.
The home side almost pulled one back in added time, but Kaiba’s shot from range was turned behind by Ronwen Williams.
With the victory, Sundowns are comfortably on top of the group with six points. This was Cotonsport’s first match of the group stages.
Al Marreikh, Zamalek play to draw in Libya
Meanwhile, Sudan’s Al Merrikh and Egypt’s Zamalek chalked their first points in Group D after playing to a 0-0 draw at the Benina Martyrs International Stadium in Benghazi, Libya.
Both sides started their campaign last weekend with identical 1-0 losses, but they managed to get one each on board after match day two.
On a hot afternoon in Benghazi, it was a closely contested tie, with Merreikh looking to make the most of their ‘home advantage”.
Zamalek defended well, on the face of a spirited attack from Merreikh.
Goalkeeper Mohamed Awad had to be hawk-eyed and he made a neat save to deny Masinho in the 27th minute with a close opportunity, ensuring the spoils remained shared at the break.
In the second half, Merreikh kept their attacking front and Awad made another good save to deny Alex Da Silva 10 minutes after the restart.
Late on in the game, with 12 minutes left on the clock, Awad made another brilliant save, putting a strong right palm to punch away an overhead kick from Ajab Ramadan.
None of the two sides could land a goal as they shared a barren stalemate, a result that leaves them occupying the bottom two slots in the group.
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