WeeklySA_AdminDAGGERS DRAWN: ESPERANCE TO GIVE SUNDOWNS piping HOT RECEPTION
By Sports Reporter
Peter Shalulile’s second-half heroics have seen Mamelodi Sundowns edge Esperance Sportive de Tunis in a 1-0 thriller in the first leg of the CAF Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
Up next for Masandawana, is the second leg of these quarterfinals which will take place in Tunisia on Tuesday night.
The two sides last met last year in the Champions League semifinals where Esperance knocked out the Pretoria-based side.
Based on their Tuesday performance, it is obvious the Esperance side Masandawana played last season is not the same and coach Miguel Cardoso will have to deal with the new challenges they bring to the pitch especially playing at home in front of their thousands of expected fans.
Putting a spanner in the works is the “deeply” saddening unruly behaviour that was displayed at at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday.
Videos circulating on social media depict malicious damage to the stadium and the Mamelodi Sundowns supporters retreating from violent conduct that was initiated against them, including flares and pepper spray when the incident started.
Sundowns awaits a full report from the Match Commissioner and is committed to cooperating with CAF to finalize its investigation ahead of the return leg.
In a statement released by the club Sundowns said Espérance de Tunis is a respected sports institution in Africa “and we trust that once all the evidence is reviewed, our brothers and sisters at Espérance will also denounce this behaviour and take the necessary steps to ensure that the next encounter is one where all supporters feel safe and welcome.
“We are confident that the investigation will identify the circumstances that gave rise to the unruly behaviour.
“However, in accordance with our African culture of compassion and empathy (our African culture of Ubuntu) we are required to apologize to Espérance de Tunis and its supporters as the unruly behaviour took place at our home stadium, despite the videos and facts indicating that the Sundowns supporters did not initiate the unruly behaviour”.
Back to the match the hosts had an early sight of a goal as they were yearning for an early goal.
The visitors were effective with the low block, denying their hosts a chance to score. The two sides went to the interval goalless.
It only took nine minutes inside the restart for the Brazilians to find the back of the net. It was Shalulile’s tap-in that broke the deadlock after Adams had assisted him with a header.
The goal saw Esperance looking to retaliate and find an equalizer because ten minutes later, they drew a big save from Lucas Suarez inside the area. Substitute, Arthur Sales finished the save by clearing the ball away from danger.
While the hosts were looking for a goal to double their advantage, their Esperance counterparts pushed more numbers in front as they searched for a goal that would level matters. A good fight was fought by the Pretoria-based because in the end, they emerged victorious through Shalulile’s only goal of the encounter.
Its all to play for when both teams meet on Tuesday night.
Kick-off 9pm.
