The Brazilians supporters set the tone for a magical afternoon of football with live performances from some of the popular local artists and filled up the stadium to the brim in yellow colors. Masandawana grabbed a vital win against the North African giants and closed the gap at the top of Group B standings.
The visitors took the first kick in the game, but it was Bafana Ba Style should have taken the lead early on as Cassius Mailula found himself through on goal before he was fouled. Aubrey Modiba looked to take the free kick but misdirected his kick and went offside.
After receiving a good pass from the midfield, Themba Zwane pushed the ball towards Marcelo Allende who took his shot in between the defenders and put the home team in the lead in 2 minutes of action. After a good run from Peter Shalulile, the striker went down after being pushed before he could put in his cross by the corner flag, Modiba stepped up again to take the corner kick and this time more accurately with his shot.
Just after 10 minutes Ahly found an equalizer through Mohamed Sherif as the striker put one past Ronwen Williams. When the clock struck 15 minutes Downs had the chance to take the lead again, Teboho Mokoena worked tirelessly to put the ball upfront and got it to Maema who took a shot but the ball was blocked by defenders.
After 22 minutes a second eventually came and it was through Mshishi who found himself in the right place with an incoming header from Mokoena after battling for the ball mid air.
The Brazilians showed their dominance thereafter, Zwane and Khuliso Mudau combined passes outside the box of Ahly, but he eventually lost the ball as he was about to take his shot. Williams made a big save from Ahly’s long shot on target as the game was slowly nearing its half.
A Cracker shot from Mokoena settled Masandawana’ intentions before heading into the break. Mokoena capitalized on Neo Maema’s attempt after his shot at goal was blocked, Mokoena grabbed a third for the home team. Downs looked to find another goal, Maema found Shalulile inside the box, the Namibian international striker tried to put his passes together but his first touch let him down and got dispossessed.
With only three minutes into the second half Mailula made a breakthrough and went 1v1 with the defender, but his efforts did not result in any threats. After a few minutes of trying to break the defense, Zwane managed to push forward and eliminate defenders with Shalulile and Mailula on either side, Zwane’s final decision to let him down.
Eventually Percy Tau pulled one back for the Egyptians after beating Aubrey Modiba on the left side. After conceding an unexpected goal, Williams made incredible saves from an incoming free kick and one long range shot.
With less than 20 minutes left to play Shalulile finally got his goal, Maema skillfully got around the defenders and located the striker who finished off in a blast of a shot against El Shenawy.
With pressure building up from the hosts as they tried to come back into the game, Downs continued to threaten on the counter-attack and strengthened their defense. Mvala made a spectacular intervention in the box and cleared a deadly ball.
Downs’ target man Shalulile converted in the last 5 minutes to make it 5 after taking on the defense and set the stadium on fire as the fans erupted in loud cheers. Bafana Ba Style finished the game with a 57% ball possession and took up position number 1 in Group B with 10 points.
SOURCED FROM MAMELODI SUNDOWNS WEBSITE.
