South African giants, Mamelodi Sundowns finished Group C in top spot after defeating Moroccan counterparts Wydad Casablanca 1-0 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria Saturday afternoon.
Ricardo Nascimento scored from the spot in first-half injury time to give The Brazilians what proved to be the game’s lone goal, as the 2016 champions raised their tally to 14 points, five richer than second-placed Wydad with both sides already guaranteeing quarterfinals spots before the final matchday.
Algeria’s USM Alger and Angola’s Petro de Luanda finished the group winless when they had a 2-2 draw in Algiers. USM Alger led 2-0 through goals from Aimen Mahious and Walid Ardji in each half, but Picas and Tony scored two goals in two minutes to equalize for the visitors. Petro finished the group on four points, one more than USMA.
Wydad goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti was the first to save when he stood tall to Themba Zwane shot after 12 minutes. The in-form shot-stopper made another save to deny Zwane once again after 20 minutes as the hosts tried to find the opener.
Five minutes to halftime Thapelo Morena should have given the hosts the lead. Gaston Sirino’s cross was met by Morena’s header that narrowly missed the target.
And just before the break Sundowns broke the deadlock. Lebohang Maboe was brought down inside the vital area for the hosts to be awarded a penalty. From the spot, Ricardo Nascimento made no mistake as the hosts went to halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Wydad returned stronger after the break hoping to find the equalizer, but could not impose any serious threat to Denis Onyango between the posts for Sundowns.
Tagnaouti was once again Wydad’s hero when he came off his line in time to stop Zwane from doubling the hosts’ lead after 73 minutes. Another Zwane effort saw the same fate five minutes later with everything going in the hosts’ favour.
Kasengu Kazadi could have found a late equalizer for the visitors Wydad, but his goal-bound header a minute from time found the safe hands of Onyango who brilliantly converted the ball to a corner kick.
Meanwhile, in Algiers, USM Alger looked close to have their first group victory, but for visitors Petro de Luanda to score two late goals and hold them to a 2-2 draw in a dead rubber.
Aymen Mahious broke the deadlock for the Algerian hosts three minutes after the half-hour mark, a lead that lasted till halftime.
After the break, Petro tried to find the equalizer, but it was USMA who doubled their lead through Walid Ardji after 70 minutes.
But as it seemed to be a first home win for USMA, Petro scored twice in as many minutes to hold the hosts.
Picas scored ten minutes from time what seemed like a consolation goal for the Angolans, but right from the restart, Tony scored the equalizer, as both sides capped a campaign to forget without a win.
©Cafonline
