By Michael Madyira
The Mamelodi Sundowns’ CAF Champions League curse continued after they were dumped out of the competition at the semi-final stage by Esperance following a 1-0 defeat in a second-leg match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
Substitute Raed Bouchniba scored in the 57th minute on a rainy evening in Tshwane to break the hearts of Masandawana fans and hand the Tunisians a 2-0 aggregate victory.
Having dished out poor displays in recent matches, Sundowns were punished and will have to try again next season to win the trophy they last claimed in 2016.
Even after getting a stoppage of more than an hour in the first half due to lightning, Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena could not fix the areas his men needed to work on and breach the Tunisians.
Esperance will now meet Al Ahly in the final after the Cairo giants beat TP Mazembe 3-0 at home.
Mokwena received a big blow from Teboho Mokoena not recovering for the match while captain Themba Zwane and Thembinkosi Lorch were benched.
That paved the way for Rivaldo Coetzee, Thapelo Maseko and Bathusi Aubass to start.
Sundowns showed intent with two chances in quick succession in the second minute when Peter Shalulile forced a good save from Esperance goalkeeper Amanallah Memmich who again tipped the Namibian’s other effort over the bar.
From the onset, Masandawana enjoyed the majority of the possession but had the difficult task of cracking the Tunisians’ defensive approach plus a ploy to kill the game’s tempo.
Maseko had his headed effort go just over the bar after 20 minutes as Sundowns piled pressure on their visitors before play was paused due to inclement weather.
The game resumed after more than an hour and in the 30th minute, there was an injury-forced substitution for Mokwena who replaced Maseko with Thapelo Morena.
Shortly after, Shalulile rose highest to head in a Marcelo Allende cross but Memmich was up to the task.
Sundowns thought they were to take the lead three minutes before halftime but Memmich pulled a sensational save, denying Shalulile’s header from point-blank range.
Another golden opportunity came for the Brazilians eight minutes after the restart when Shalulile beat Memmich but agonisingly watched his effort miss the target by a whisker.
Morena was the next to narrowly miss the target as lady luck seemed not to be on Masandawana’s side.
Immediately after, action swung to the other end where Bouchniba beat Ronwen Williams from an acute angle and it signalled the end of Sundowns’ road.
The visitors’ goal left Sundowns with an impossible task, needing to score three goals without reply to reach the final.
With 21 minutes to go, Shalulile’s turn-and-shoot went just over the bar before Aubrey Modiba was denied by the crossbar with nine minutes remaining.
Pictured above: Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Bathusi Aubaas tussles for possession against Esperance’s Algerian attacker Houssam Ghacha.
Image source: CAF
