Mamelodi Sundowns lost ground in their challenge for an African Confederation Cup final place this weekend after losing 1-0 to Astres Douala in Cameroon.
A softly awarded penalty midway through the second half in the Atlantic city settled the Group A clash with Roland Ndjam sending Calvin Marlin the wrong way from the spot kick.
It was the first win for Astres in four group matches and Sundowns’ second defeat as they try and meet the demands of billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe and bring an African trophy to Pretoria.
Club Sportif Sfaxien of Tunisia overcame Tout Puissant Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-0 at home in the other group match to regain first spot with seven points.
Mazembe and Sundowns have six each and Astres, eliminated in the third qualifying round only to be reinstated when Benfica Luanda of Angola were disqualified, prop up the table with four.
Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund slammed the ”actors” of Astres after seeing his team flop at the rundown Reunification Stadium and fail to score for a third consecutive match.
”I deplore the way Astres played. It was so unprofessional, diving all the time trying to fool the match officials. And the penalty was scandalous,” he fumed.
Opposite number Nicolas Tonye preferred to look ahead to September 22 and a make-or-break clash with 2006 African Champions League runners-up Sfaxien in the Mediterranean town of Sfax.
”We have our first victory and that brings hope to our hearts. I respect Sfaxien because they held us in Douala, but let no one think we’ll travel to Tunisia expecting the worst,” he cautioned.
Overuse has reduced the Reunification Stadium to a cabbage patch unsuited to international football and Sundowns struggled to adapt.
The penalty stemmed from a collision between Astres striker Ene Otobong and recalled Marlin as they chased after a loose ball, leaving Ndjam to claim his first African Confederation Cup goal.
Sfaxien atoned for an away loss to Mazembe two weeks ago thanks to goals from recent signing Hamdi Rouid in the first minute and Abdelkarim Nafti 15 minutes from full-time via a penalty kick.
The Tunisian team coached by Swiss Michel Decastel are formidable at their Taieb Mhiri Stadium home, scoring 16 goals and conceding none in five qualifying and group matches this year.
Al-Merreikh of Sudan bounced back from a shock third-round loss at Kwara United of Nigeria by winning 4-1 in Omdurman courtesy of goals from Ahmed Mogahid, Mohamed Safary, Abdulhamid al-Soudei and Brazilian Paulo Roberto.
Expensively assembled Merreikh have seven points, Dolphin of Nigeria six, Kwara four and Ismailia of Egypt two with the group winners qualifying for the two-leg decider. – Sapa-AFP