WeeklySA_AdminCAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:Wasteful Mamelodi Sundowns bow out after another Esperance defeat
By Sports Reporter
Masandawana’s 38 match unbeaten games at home across all competitions was ended on Friday night by the North Africans.
Esperance won the first leg 1-0. Tunisian’s won the second leg by the same scoreline. Gold & Black to play Al Ahly in the final. Peter Shalulile forced Esperance goalkeeper Amanallah Memmich into a fine save with a point-blank header inside 20 minutes.
Moments later, the match was stopped for almost an hour owing to poor weather conditions in Tshwane. It eventually resumed but neither team scored in the first half. After the break, the lively Shalulile then hit the upright with the goalkeeper well-beaten. The missed chances came back to haunt Sundowns.
Raed Bouchniba raced clear in the 57th minute, before beating Ronwen Williams with a fierce shot from the right to give his team a 1-0 win on the night and a 2-0 aggregate victory. They will now play Percy Tau’s Al Ahly in the final after the African champions beat TP Mazembe 3-0 on aggregate in the other semi-final tie.
Esperance custodian Memmich was in an inspired form the whole night, ensuring he effectively did his job and kept a clean sheet.
However, the award goes to the match winner Bouchniba who was decisive in the final third and ended up scoring the most important goal of the evening.
The 37-year-old Rhulani Mokwena was confident of winning the Caf Champions League when he was crowned the African Football League (AFL) champion with Sundowns in November 2023. However, it seems he is missing vital experience to beat the best in the continent, having fallen on the same stage last season against Wydad Casablanca.
Mokwena is definitely the big loser for the night. Sundowns will now hope to win their next two Premier Soccer League matches against TS Galaxy and Kaizer Chiefs respectively to be crowned domestic champions for the seventh successive time.
It will be interesting to see whether Downs management will give Mokwena another chance to deliver the Caf Champions League trophy after failing to win it despite having all the players he had wished for.
BATTLE OF STARS
MFC: Sparks will fly when Casric and JD trot onto the pitch in KwaMhlanga on Sunday
By Masoja Cele
It’s the battle of theStars. On Sunday, Casric Stars FC will lock horns against JDR Stars in an intense battle at Solomon Mahlangu Stadium, KwaMhlanga. The match will kickoff at 15:00.
With both teams fixed on 38 points with 5 matches to complete the 2023/24 campaign. The record suggests that sparks will fly when the duo trot onto the pitch on Sunday. Though, they seem to be out of contention for outright promotion to the DStv Premiership, the two teams are still contesting for the national mini league play-offs.
Meanwhile, log leaders Magesi seem to have wrapped it up, as they lead the dual Stars with 11 points and top second place University of Pretoria with 5 points.
Casris Stars who are perched on 3rd position on the table boosted their confidence with a 3-0 drubbing of Baroka away from home. On the other hand JDR Stars disappointed their followers with a 0-0 draw against Venda Football Academy at home.Last season the Mpumalanga based Stars finished third and played in the play-offs tourney. However, lack of experience in the playing personnel and technical team proved worthy as the end the mini league play-offs winless. But,as the saying goes-lighting never strikes twice at the same spot.Certainly they will want to push one step better in this campaign.
The appointment of Sundra Govender as the head coach has significantly improved the tactical ability of the team. Casric lost some discipline and enthusiasm under former gaffer Aswin Sutton early in the season. Their form deteriorated under Sutton But, things drastically improved after the arrival of the tactical powered Govender.His array of exciting brilliant ball players like Ryan Rae, formerly with Maritzburg United, Phoka Mofokeng, Pogiso Mabote and ex- Stellenbosch goal-poacher Lelethu Skelm could upset the ‘’Hammer Boys’’ on Sunday.
Nevertheless, playing against the rejuvenated JDR Stars popularly known as the ‘’Hammer Boyz’’ won’t be an easy passage for Casric. The Tshwane outfit who are under the tutelage of club chairman NditsheniNemisisi have been part of the second tier ever since the 2018/19 season. During that spell, they have many gloriousattempts to win promotion to the top league, however they failed towards the end of every campaign. Against this back-round this should really be more than enough to motivate the players to do their utmost.
Needing the three points against Casric, the ‘’Hammer Boyz’’ should pull out all stops to claim the needed points. But that feat will required brutal approach and sweat from the visiting team. Coach Nemisisiwill entrust players like midfield workhorse Ishmael Wadi and the crafty Xolani ‘’Black-Berry’’ Nkola and the tricky Azola Tshobeni to unlock the opposition defence.
The three midfielders will also be required to supply the league leading goal scorer Prince Nxumalo. The former Ajax Cape Town talisman leads the scoring chart with 16 goals.
In another Motsepe Foundation Championship fixture on Sunday Marumo Gallants will battle it out against Platinum City Rovers at Isak Steyl Stadium, Vanderbjlpark.
