Shalulile brace helps Sundowns breeze past Belouizdad

Mamleodi Sundowns finally got back to winning ways, overpowering Algerian side CR Beloluizdad in the first leg of the Caf Champions League quarterfinal, held away at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Saturday night.

Masandawana got themselves valuable away goals as they won the tie 4-1, with the return-leg looming in the capital city.

ALSO READ: Pirates edge Cape Town City to jump into second place

It took Sundowns six minutes to get on the scoresheet and the referee spent almost as much time to officially give the goal as he suspected some foul play in the build-up to Shalulile’s goal. The man in the middle consulted VAR and paused the game for some time before awarding the goal to Downs.

Aubrey Modiba was lucky to get the second ball from a corner kick, and he flung in a cross from the left, finding Peter Shalulile in mid-air, who headed home to give Sundowns the lead.

The DStv Premiership champions then doubled their lead in the 20th minute, and this time it was captain Themba Zwane who instigated the move forward and passed to Shalulile, who released the final ball to Neo Maema and the attacking midfielder made no mistake as he sent goalkeeper Alexis Guendouz the wrong way.

After piling much pressure on Sundowns, Belouizdad eventually pulled one back just before the signal for half time. The hosts were all over Bafana Ba Style and forced them to concede a number of corner kicks, which was the source of their goal as Ronwen Williams and his defence eventually cracked and Miloud Rebiai headed in a goal from a corner.

But Sundowns made sure to get as many away goals as they could as Rulani Mokwena’s side added a third goal through Shalulile in the 51st minute. Cassius Mailula came off the bench to hit the final nail on the coffin as he netted in the dying moments of the game.

Meanwhile in other results, defending champions Esperance of Tunis chiseled out a 1-0 win away to JS Kabylie. To see other quarterfinal results, click here.