Mamelodi Sundowns progressed to the CAF Champions League semi-finals with a 1-0 aggregate win over Esperance on Tuesday night.
CAF Champions League
Result: Esperance 0-0 Mamelodi Sundowns (0-1 aggregate)
Date: 08 April 2025
Venue: Stade olympique Hammadi-Agrebi
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso made two changes from the first-leg win as Aubrey Modiba and Iqraam Rayners made way for Divine Lunga and Arthur Sales, who impressed off the bench seven days ago
The Brazilians took control of the encounter early on despite the 1-0 aggregate lead and moved the ball around quite nicely, as the hosts looked to catch their opponents out on the counter-attack.
Esperance, meanwhile, were finding it tough to get their foot on the ball as the first half progressed, much to the annoyance of the home supporters who whistled every Sundowns touch.
That nearly changed with eight minutes left in the first half when Yan Sasse finally got the better of Lunga down the right before sending a low cross into the box, however Sundowns were able to clear thanks to an intervention from Khuliso Mudau.
Sundowns went even closer on the stroke of halftime when Marcelo Allende was afforded time and space to unleash a powerful strike that rattled against the crossbar with goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said well beaten.
Esperance came out firing in the second half and the thought they got their reward in the 63rd minute when Achref Jabri latched onto a ball over the top and lobbed Ronwen Williams but after lengthy check from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the goal was ruled out for offside.
Cardoso responded with a double change soon after as Sales and Jayden Adams made way for Rayners and Bathusi Aubaas to freshen up the side for the final 20 minutes.
Sundowns nearly ended the contest with five minutes to go when Peter Shalulile collected a pass from Rayners before seeing his strike from distance parried away by Ben Said.
Cardoso's charges were able to see out the closing stages of the encounter to claim the 1-0 win on aggregate and advance to the final four, where they will now face defending champions Al Ahly.
Here's how they lined up:
Esperance: Ben Said, Jelassi, Tka, Rodrigues, Sasse, Belaili, Bouchniba, Onuche, Tougai, Hamida, Konate
Mamelodi Sundowns: Williams, Mudau, Kekana, Suarez, Lunga, Allende, Mokoena, Adams, Ribeiro, Sales, Shalulile
Subs: Onyango, Khoza, Mdunyelwa, Tiwani, Modiba, Aubaas, Esquivel, Matthews, Rayners
