Mamelodi Sundowns saved themselves from beetroot-red blushes while coming back from a second minute deficit to beat Tunisian club Sportif de Gafsa 2-1 in a fourth round Caf first-leg Confederation Cup match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday afternoon.
But it was not the scoreline that the Brazilians might have desired to carry forward into the second-leg on foreign territory against a battling, but strictly limited combination who occupy 10th place in the 14-team Tunisian first division.
Sundowns’ complacency was further reflected by the fact that coach Gordon Igesund rested a handful of his frontline players.
And perhaps it was the modest status of their opponents that was responsible for the Brazilians’ defence being caught napping from the kickoff, with stand-in goalkeeper Brian Baloyi deflecting a close-range shot from Ahmed Khanchil into the net for what was the equivalent of sucker punch.
Sundowns dithered for most of the opening half and missed numerous gilt-edged opportunities. Then Lerato Chabangu equalised in the 40th minute with a sizzling, angled shot after a free-kick from which Dillon Sheppard and Godfrey Sapula cunningly initiated the opening.
The effervescant Sapula, whose sparkle and enterprise contrasted with the lacklustre play of most of his teammates, scored the winning goal in the 56th minute when he sliced throughthe Gafsa defence like a red-hot knife and delivered the coup de grâce with a pin-point angled shot into the far corner of the net.
Substitute Shakes Ngwenya might have imagined a third goal for Sundowns was already a fait accompli when he shot casually from three metres into what seemed an empty goal.
But the Gafsa goalkeeper appeared almost magically out of nowhere to bring off a sensational, point-blank save. – Sapa