Mamelodi Sundowns suffered a defeat in their first pre-season friendly, going down 2-1 to German third division side SV Sandhausen 1916 in what was the first game after Rulani Mokwena’s departure.
It was a cagey opening 30 minutes against the Bundesliga 3 side, who finished in eighth place last season, with both teams hardly testing each other and a lot of switches of the ball.
However, the game came somewhat to life before the break Sandhausen hit the post from a powerful header after 21 minutes.
The German side opened the scoring via Tim Maciejewski after 32 minutes when Sundowns’ defence failed to clear the ball following a corner.
Masandawana scored the 1-1 equaliser after the break via Tashreeq Matthews following a fast-paced attack.
However, Sandhausen once again exposed some weaknesses from the DStv Premiership champions at the back when Dominic Baumann made it 2-1 after another corner.
It was Masandawana’s first friendly in Austria, with four more set to follow. Their next friendly already follows on Wednesday, when the SA giants will take on 19-time Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv.
Image credit: Sandhausen
