Sundowns knocked out of Caf CL

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Mamelodi Sundowns’ Caf Champions League journey is over after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Wydad Casablanca in their semi-final second leg on Saturday afternoon.

Sundowns came into the game trailing 2-1 on aggregate and knew that they would have to break down what would be a resolute Wydad defence.

The Brazilians started on the front foot and dominated the possession early on with Gaston Sirino in particular receiving some rough treatment from the visitors.

It was the North Africans though who had the first real effort on goal as Dennis Onyango produced a top save to keep his clean sheet intact.

It was proving to be a tight and tactical affair with chances proving hard to come by for both sides.

The home side, however, came close to opening from a set-piece as Sirino found Anele Ngconcga, but the wing-backs header was side of the target.

0-0 at the break with the away side happy to sit back and defend their aggregate lead.

Mosimane’s chargers knew that they would need to up the tempo in the second half if they wanted to find the break through but they were again met by a determined and disciplined Wydad side.

The visitors were the first to have a sniff at goal as Mosa Lebusa produced a stunning block to deny Babatunde who’s shot on the spin looked goalbound.

Mosimane then turned to the substitutes bench with Phakamani Mahlambi replacing Tiyani Mabunda with 20 minutes to go as Downs looked to push forward in search of a goal.

Wydad remained a threat on the counter with Onyango forced into a decisive block with 11 minutes to go.

Sundowns threw all they had at the Morroccans but just couldn’t find the break through as the game ended 0-0, a result which sees the North Africans progress courtesy of their 2-1 aggregate advantage.

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Dean Workman