Sundowns outclass Malien to put one foot in CAFCL semis
Mamelodi Sundowns are on the brink of the CAF Champions League semifinals after a comfortable 3-0 win over Stade Malien at Loftus Versfeld.
Mamelodi Sundowns produced a controlled and clinical performance, scoring through Khuliso Mudau, Brayan Leon and substitute Iqraam Rayners to take a comfortable advantage into next week’s second leg in Bamako, Mali.
Sundowns dominated possession from the opening whistle but had to wait until the 34th minute to break the deadlock. Khuliso Mudau finished calmly after being set up by Arthur Sales.
The assistant referee initially raised the offside flag, but after a VAR review the decision was overturned and the goal was correctly awarded.
COMPLETE MAMELODI SUNDOWNS DOMINANCE IN THE SECOND HALF
The hosts carried that momentum into the second half and doubled their lead in the 54th minute. Brayan Leon found the back of the net after a moment of quality from Nuno Santos, whose clever pass unlocked the Stade Malien defence before Leon finished confidently to make it 2-0.
Sundowns continued to control the tempo and looked the more dangerous side whenever they pushed forward. Their dominance was rewarded again in the 73rd minute when substitute Iqraam Rayners added the third goal of the night.
Once again, the linesman’s flag went up for offside, but VAR intervened for the second time in the match. Replays confirmed Rayners had timed his run perfectly to meet another excellent assist from Santos before calmly finishing to stretch the lead to 3-0.
With the result, Sundowns now travel to Bamako next week holding a strong advantage as they look to secure their place in the semifinals of Africa’s premier club competition.
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THE DREAM FOR THE SECOND STAR
Sundowns reached the final in the 2024/25 season but fell just short against Egypt’s Pyramids FC. It was the closest push for the title since lifting the trophy in 2016.
Before that run, Sundowns had regularly gone deep in the competition. They were knocked out in the semifinals by Esperance in 2023/24 and by Wydad Casablanca in 2022/23.
The Brazilians exited in the quarterfinals against Petro de Luanda in 2021/22. Back-to-back quarterfinal defeats to Al Ahly ended their campaigns in 2020/21 and 2019/20.
Earlier, they suffered a semifinal loss to Wydad in 2018/19. Sundowns then exited in the group stage in 2017/18, and were beaten in the quarterfinals by Wydad in 2016/17.
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