Mamelodi Sundowns’ aspirations of continental glory were dashed as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Pyramids FC in the second-leg of the CAF Champions League final at the 30 June Stadium on Sunday night.
Fiston Mayele and Ahmed Samy found the net for Pyramids FC, scoring once in each half, as the Egyptian side clinched the Champions League trophy for the first time with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Sundowns travelled to Egypt to clash with Pyramids in the second-leg of the Champions League final. In the first-leg, the Brazilians played to a 1-1 draw with the Egyptian Premier League side at Loftus Versfeld Stadium after conceding a last-minute goal last Saturday.
In the fierce second-leg fight, Pyramids had a promising start to the match after causing all sorts of problems for Sundowns’ defence. And Pyramids were finally rewarded for their efforts after opening the scoring in the 23rd minute through the highly-rated striker Fiston Mayele.
FISTON MAYELE GAVE PYRAMIDS THE LEAD
The 30-year-old pounced on the mistake from Sundowns centre-back Grant Kekana, who played the ball in the path of Mayele. It was his ninth goal of the season in the competition.
With the Pretoria-based side searching for a quick equalising goal, they struggled to trouble their opponents after misplacing passes in the final third.
In the closing minutes of the first-half, Tashreeq Matthews had a golden opportunity to bring the scoreline back to level terms. However, he couldn’t convert with only the goalkeeper left to beat.
The Betway Premiership champions went into the half-time break trailing 1-0 and 2-1 on aggregate. At the resumption of the second stanza, Sundowns made a defensive substitution, replacing Aubrey Modiba with Divine Lunga.
With Sundowns pushing to find their opening goal of the match, Pyramids doubled the lead through Ahmed Samy in the 56th minute. On the other hand, Igraam Rayners found a consolation goal for Downs in the 75th minute.
Despite Sundowns’ push to turn the game on its head, Pyramids held on to claim an impressive victory in front of their home fans in Egypt.
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