Young Africans are Fired Blanks by Sundowns

In the first leg of their quarterfinal CAF Champions League match, Mamelodi Sundowns and Young Africans drew 0-0 on Saturday night.

Star forwards Peter Shalulile and Lucas Ribeiro Costa were called upon by Masandawana, who also included Thembinkosi Lorch in the starting lineup in place of Themba Zwane, who was suspended.

In the first ten minutes, Sundowns’ exact complement was not available, thus they had to substitute Aubrey Modiba for Bongani Zungu, a midfielder/defender who took a knock.

Masandawana attempted to seize the initiative early on after a clumsy start, as Shalulile rushed in wide of the box to attempt a shot but ultimately dragged wide.

Around the halfway point, Yanga started to come alive. Clement Mzize came in from a loose ball high in the field and forced goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to make a low stop.

Perhaps the best opportunity of the half fell to Ribeiro Costa, who made a deft run outside the box to get a shot off after a through pass but was unable to make it work.

In the second stanza, Yanga came out swinging and set up shop in the Brazilian half, with third-man rushes from Mzize and Kennedy Musonda wreaking havoc.

At this point in the game, Mzize’s looping header from a corner scraped the near post for the host, and Stephane Aziz Ki’s shot from left of the box went wide.

Mzize persisted in posing a threat to the host, sprinting through on goal after Williams’ through pass to draw even, but the Bafana Bafana skipper collected.

Halfway through the second half, Sundowns made two substitutions: Sphelele Mkhulise replaced Mosa Lebusa, while Ribeiro was taken off the field to make room for Thapelo Morena.

Teboho Mokoena’s curling free kick with seconds remaining gave Masandawana a chance to win, but Teboho Mokoena’s effort was unsuccessful, and the game ended goalless.

Verified lineups:

Williams, Lebusa, Kekana, Zungu, Mudau, Lunga, Mokoena, Lorch, Allende, Riberio, and Shalulile are the Mamelodi Sundowns players.

Subs: Esquivel, D. Onyango, Modiba, Aubaas, Mkhulise, Morena, Maseko, Mvala, Matthews