Mamelodi Sundowns claimed a 2-1 victory in their first leg of the CAF Champions League, but made the mistake of letting their rivals, Kampala Capital City FC claim an important away goal that might come back to haunt them.
The Brazilians got their Champions League campaign underway on Friday, March 10, when they welcomed the Ugandans to the Lucas Moripe Stadium in the opening fixture.
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An early goal from Bangaly Soumahoro and a converted spot kick from Ricardo Nascimento not long after, saw Masandawana lead comfortably in to the second half.
However during the 69th minute, Kampala were able to pull one back, after Geoffrey Sserunkuma hit the back of the Sundowns net to make the score 2-1. But, what does the away goal mean for the Ugandans when they host Masandawana on Saturday, March 18?
Both sides will come in to the encounter needing to score a goal, should Sundowns get on the scoresheet first, everything will depend on the character, ability and the experience in the team to maintain or build on their lead thereafter.
However, given the case that Sundowns are unable to score at the Lugogo Stadium on Saturday and Kampala manage to take a 1-0 lead at the full time whistle, the goal that the Ugandans scored away from home will be the ultimate decider after the full-time whistle (2-2 aggregate).
There is no doubt that Kampala will come in to the game playing strategically with their away goal in mind and speaking to KCCA's Head of Communications, Clive Kyazze in this week's edition of Soccer Laduma, he revealed that the away goal advantage has worked for the team in the past.
"It means a lot, hey. Any team that scores away in these continental competitions knows exactly how important it is to score away from home. A simple 1-0 win for us in the second leg will be enough to see us through. If we get an early goal, Sundowns would have it all to do and the away goal has worked for us in the past, so scoring away means everything," Kyazze said.
To read more on what Sundowns can expect from their clash against KCCA in Uganda this weekend, check out this week's edition of Soccer Laduma, issue number 1014.
