Mamelodi Sundowns suffered a last-minute blow in their first leg CAF Champions League final against Pyramids on Saturday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
In a opening half devoid of fluency, despite Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso showing intent with four forwards; Arthur Sales, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, Iqraam Rayners and Tashreeq Matthews – it was Fiston Mayele who showed the biggest threat on the counter for the visitors.
It proved so frustrating, that Matthews was hauled off before the break with Jayden Adams coming on for Matthews as they look to gain more control of proceedings.
Adans brought the desired impact, where in the second half, they looked the more threatening side and Costa was the man of the moment, as the opened the scoring with a deft finish just before the hour mark after two attempts were thwarted by the stoic Pyramids defence.
Not much clear cut chances were created after despite the game opening up to an end to end affair as Pyramids looked to get back into the game – and Sundowns dropping deeper into their own half with the lead.
And that turned out costly as Sundowns failed defend a late cross, which found Walid El Karti at the far past and he headed home the late equaliser.
Pyramids now take the away goal to the second leg in Cairo next week where Sundowns likely need to win or a high-scoring draw to secure their second star.
Did you know that the iDiski Times Digital Newspaper is completely free! Download it now by clicking the button below.
