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Percy Tau's Al Ahly end Sundowns' winning run with draw in Cairo

Marcelo Allende of Sundowns challenges Hussein Elshahat of Al Ahly during the CAF Champions League held at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt on 25 February 2023.
Marcelo Allende of Sundowns challenges Hussein Elshahat of Al Ahly during the CAF Champions League held at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt on 25 February 2023.
Image: Weam Mostafa/BackpagePix

It was billed as a match that was going to be a stern test for Rulani Mokwena and his Mamelodi Sundowns team and the South African champions did just enough not to fail the Al Ahly exam.

This after Sundowns put in a brave performance to hold desperate Ahly to a 2-2 draw in a Caf Champions League group stage clash at Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo on Saturday night.

Mohamed Abdelmonem and Hussein El Shahat scored for the Egyptian while Peter Shalulile and Thapelo Morena found the back of the net for Sundowns.

This was the first time Sundowns failed to win a match since Mokwena became sole head coach in October.

Sundowns had proved to be unstoppable both in the Premier Soccer League and on the continental stage where they had recorded victories against Al-Hilal of Sudan and Coton Sport of Cameroon in the group stages.

Ahly were desperate not to lose the fixture as it would have meant a disaster for their campaign after losing their first group stage match to Hilal.

They remain third in the group with just one point from two outings, but they have played one game less compared to second-place Hilal who have six points.

For the first time in a long time, Sundowns were forced to play mostly in their own half with almost all their players behind the ball.

Even their most prized asset at the moment, Cassius Mailula, was at times seen lending help at the back.

In the Premier Soccer League, it’s normally Sundowns’ opponents that sit back and try not to concede a lot of goals.

It looked like their plan for the game was to catch Ahly on counterattack and they looked dangerous when they did.

Ahly created a number of chances in the opening but their attackers failed to hit the target and when they did, Sundowns’ goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was always ready to avert the danger.

Shalulile broke the deadlock with a tap in after being set up by Mailula on 34 minutes.

The Namibian forward had another glorious opportunity to double his tally in the match when he had a free header inside the box but Shalulile sent it over the crossbar.

The Egyptian continued to dominate in the final stanza of the clash in search of the crucial victory.

Ahly had a great chance to pull one back when Mothobi Mvala brought down fellow South African Percy Tau inside the box on 51 and the referee gave the host a penalty.

However, Williams produced a fine save to deny Mohamed Hany from the spot.

The Egyptian giant found the equaliser eight minutes later through Abdelmonem with a head from a corner kick.

El Shahat gave Ahly the lead when he toyed with Downs’ defender Khuliso Mudau before unleashing a thunderous shot to beat Williams with only 16 minutes to play.

As the hosts looked set for first victory in the group stages, substitute Morena found the back of the net with 10 minutes to play to give Masandawana a point away from home.

Masandawana remain top of Group B with seven points from three outings so far.

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