Away goal gives Sundowns fighting chance to progress

Mamelodi Sundowns may have lost to Wydad Casablanca in Morocco on Friday night, but the Brazilians certainly gave it a good fight for the better part of the match.

Wydad will take a 2-1 lead into the return leg to be played in Pretoria on Saturday. In the first leg of the CAF Champions League semifinals at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Wydad could have scored a couple more but Downs survived and most importantly, got an away goal through Anele Ngcongca.

From a Sundowns point of view, here's how Sunday World assessed the match...

Positives

Taking the game to Wydad

Wydad, the 2017 champions, didn't have it their own way against Sundowns, the 2016 winners of this competition.

Pitso Mosimane's men could have decided to sit back and play for a draw to finish the job in Pretoria, but they fought back. Yes, they looked vulnerable in defence and to be fair, Wydad had a few good chances, but Sundowns took the game to the hosts and opened up play.

Wydad scored first through Salah Saidi in the 26th minute, but because of Sundowns' persistent play - also wanting to get on the scoresheet, they were eventually rewarded just before the interval with defender Ngcongca scoring with a header.

Wydad went on to score again via the boot of Aouk Badi early in the second half, but Sundowns' away goal could prove crucial with the second leg coming up on Saturday. In this competition, especially in the knockout stage, an away goal is as good as gold.

Sundowns have given themselves a real fighting chance of reaching the final and hopefully repeat their 2016 heroics.

Players taking responsibility

There were some Sundowns players who had an off day like left-back Tebogo Langerman and he made a couple of costly errors, but they were willing to fight for the team.

Even more impressive was seeing attacking players such as Gaston Sirino and Lebohang Maboe trying to score from distance, with Wydad goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti forced into a couple of saves in the first half.

It's this sort of spirit that Sundowns need to be a force in Africa - the desire to fight for the ball and let the opponents, even as hosts, know that you are in it to win it.

Wydad, in their own backyard, are a very difficult side to beat and Sundowns have been there a few times and came out on the losing side. In fact, the Moroccan giants have gone 37 matches unbeaten at home [30 wins, 7 draws].

It was always going to be a difficult task for Sundowns to win there considering they are not good travellers, but the commitment from everyone to get something there [in the form of the crucial away goal] should be commended.

Negatives

Erratic defence

The less said about the defence, the better. If it wasn't for goalkeeper Denis Onyango's heroics during the match, Wydad would have scored more. Of course Sundowns gave it their all, but the defending was their big let down. Even attacking midfielder Themba Zwane almost scored an own goal when he tracked back to help out in defence in the second half.

Zwane, who has six goals in the competition, tried to stop a cross and the ball came off his head onto the post.

Wydad were no doubt relentless in attack and perhaps Sundowns could have been a bit calm in dealing with the threats, but were caught all over the show a few times and that would explain why they let two goals in.

Some tired legs out there

In the second half, Sundowns looked tired. But if you consider that this was their 62nd match in the last 12 months, it's perhaps understandable that in some matches they are going to show some tired legs, especially because the current players are the same players who've been playing all along.

They beat Chippa United 3-2 in Pretoria on Tuesday and immediately rushed to the airport for their trip to Morocco and played 72 hours later.

It's been a difficult journey for Sundowns having to play in the domestic league and in Africa, but they've kept going.

Looking Ahead

It's certainly not over for Sundowns. An away goal stands them in good stead ahead of the return leg. Sundowns have faced some tough opposition in Pretoria and won; Al Ahly, Zamalek, TP Mazembe and even Wydad come to mind as some of the teams that didn't come out alive at Lucas Moripe Stadium. Sundowns may have lost the battle in Morocco, but not the war.