Sundowns sub Morena sinks holders Ahly in CAF Champions League
Thapelo Morena scored just four minutes after coming off the bench to give Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa a shock 1-0 triumph over CAF Champions League title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt in Cairo on Saturday.
The substitute struck on 85 minutes of the Group A matchday 3 clash, firing past goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy after 10-time African champions Ahly fluffed a clearance.
It was the first Champions League victory for Sundowns over Ahly in the Egyptian capital after five consecutive losses from 2001 in which they failed to score and conceded 10 goals.
Victory lifted the Pretoria outfit to seven points in Group A, three more than Al Merrikh of Sudan and six ahead of Ahly and another Sudanese club, Al Hilal.
Ahly and Merrikh have a match in hand and will meet in Cairo on March 5 before the defending champions travel to South Africa for a return match against Sundowns the following weekend.
The title-holders, who this month finished third in the Club World Cup behind champions Chelsea and Palmeiras, looked the likelier winners for much of the match with Sundowns soaking up pressure.
But before Morena stunned the small crowd, due to coronavirus restrictions, Sundowns came closest to breaking the deadlock when Lyle Lakay hit the woodwork early in the second half.
Ahly thought they had rescued a point deep in added time when a header off a corner seemed destined for the net until veteran Zambian goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene made a brilliant one-hand save.
It was a wonderful finale for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations-winning shot-stopper after several early fumbles almost led to goals for the Cairo Red Devils.
