Morena nets brace as 10-man Sundowns register double over Al Hilal

Peter Shalulile caught them cold with a shuddering punch to leave them bloodied as early as the second minute and they never fully recovered.

The game was still in its infancy when Shalulile caught the Al Hilal defence napping to give Sundown the lead in Omdurman to set up this highly impressive 4-2 win away from home.

Even more impressive, Sundowns played the remaining 80 minutes with ten men after defender Brian Onyango was shown a red card and Thapelo Morena registered a brace.

Sundowns came into this Caf Champions League clash having already secured a place in the last eight but this means they will finish the group stages on top of the standings.

For Al Hilal, their hopes of reaching the next round is hanging by a thread as they have to beat Egyptian giants Al Ahly in Cairo to have any chance of sneaking through.

Sundowns coaches Manqoba Mngqithi, Steve Komphela and Rulani Mokwena made three changes to the team that beat Al Ahly 1-0 last weekend at FNB Stadium.

Reyaad Pieterse replaced Kennedy Mweene while Teboho Mokoena came in for Mothobi Mvala and Lesedi Kapinga took the place of Khuliso Mudau.

Shalulile opened the scoring in the 2nd minute when he was allowed space inside the box to compose himself and put the ball past goalkeeper Saeed Mohammed.

Sundowns suffered a huge blow after ten minutes when defender Onyango saw a red card for bringing opposition attacker Eid Mugadam down on the edge of the box.

Gambian referee Bakary Gassama sent him for an early shower because Mugadam had a clear scoring opportunity.

Because of Onyango’s dismissal, Mngqithi, Komphela and Mokwena changed the shape of their team and they sacrificed midfielder Themba Zwane for defender Grant Kekana.

The move did come at a huge cost for Sundowns as Al Hilal failed to effectively use their numerical advantage while the influential Zwane got the much needed rest.

Kekana slotted into the central defensive role that was vacated by Onyango to join Rushine de Reuck with Thapelo Morena and Lyle Lakay operating at right and left-back respectively.

Despite being a man down, the Brazilians continued to dominate and it came as no surprise when they increased their lead on the half-hour mark with a long-range free kick by Teboho Mokoena.

The home side pulled one back early on in the second half when substitute attacker Yasir Mozamil managed to control the ball and beat the outstretched arms of Pieterse after 56 minutes.

Sundowns pulled away again with late Morena’s brace and Al Hilal scored their consolation through Osman Eltayib deep in during injury time.

Al Hilal                                    (0)       2

Mamelodi Sundowns       (2)       4

Scorers: Sundowns — Peter Shalulile (10 min), Teboho Mokoena (30 min), Thapelo Morena (60 min, 90 min)

Al Hilal — Yasir Mozamil (56 min), Osman Eltayib (93rd)