The afternoon was a beautiful one for Mamelodi Sundowns for the victory in Pretoria but very ugly for the African continent as Sundowns and Esperance fans were seen fighting each other.
Pictures moving around on social media are so ugly but it did not take much of the excitement.
Masandawana, in the stormy conditions, failed to find their feet against Esperance Sportive de Tunis in last season’s meeting between the two in the semi-finals second leg.
The two games ended disastrously for the Brazilians as they lost both ties.
They surely had that in mind when facing the Tunisians in the quarter-finals first leg, and decided to go all out on the first day of April.
Sundowns’ football is so beautiful, and I doubt there is any team on the continent that plays so attractively like them.
They dominated the Tunisians right from the onset. With Allende and Mokoena pulling the strings from the midfield, Sundowns tormented Esperance’s midfield and attack by making them chase shadows.
The South Africans in the first half enjoyed a complete dominance after recording 84% possession as compared to Esperance’s 16%. With 5 shots in total and 2 on goal, Sundowns will regret not taking advantage of their complete dominance to take the lead.
Esperance was the happier of the two after ending the first half without conceding.
Loftus Versfeld was expectant ahead of the second half after enjoying a decent football from her boys in the first 45 minutes.
Namibian striker Peter Shalulile scored the opening goal in the 54th minute to finally break the Tunisian’s resilience as he tapped home from Adams’ assist.
The goal calmed down the tension for the home team as the fans were eagerly waiting for it.
Esperance struggled to match Sundowns’ intensity even though they looked so solid and organised at the back.
The second leg is scheduled to be played on 8th April, with Sundowns having the opportunity to steal the slot for the semi-finals, albeit the Tunisians will face them with a very different approach.
