Mamelodi Sundowns moved top of Group A after securing a 1-0 win over Pyramids FC in Tuesday’s CAF Champions League fixture in Cairo, Egypt.
Midfielder Teboho Mokoena scored in the 17th minute on the back of Lucas Ribeiro Costa’s assist.
“For majority of the game we had some good moments where we dominated possession and that’s not always easy in the Champions League, so we had to play and answer that – that’s the modern game at the moment,” said Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena after the match.
“If the game asks you to counterattack, you’ve got to counterattack, we don’t play for that. if the game asks you to suffer and absorb, we have to suffer and absorb pressure but we don’t play for that.
“We are football romantics, we love football but we also understand that in the game of football you have to answer what the game asks of you.”
So much entertainment in today’s #TotalEnergiesCAFCL matchday 4️⃣ games! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/BRahZomfTZ
— TotalEnergiesCAFCL & TotalEnergiesCAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) December 19, 2023
The result kept Sundowns in first position in group A of this season’s CAF Champions League after two wins, one draw and one defeat. They beat Nouadhibou 3-0 before losing 1-0 to TP Mazembe – and then drew 0-0 with Pyramids.
Sundowns won the CAF Champions League title in 2016. Al Ahly are the reigning champions – and have collected the title three times in the last four seasons.