Zwane solo strike hands Sundowns perfect group stage start

Themba ‘Mshishi’ Zwane was at the heart of action on both ends, scoring the solo goal in the eight minute and making a goalline clearance 12 minutes to time as Mamelodi Sundowns beat Al Hilal 1-0 in their opening Group A clash of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League on Friday.

The hard earned victory saw Sundowns scale to the apex of the group after match day one.

Zwane struck the solo goal just eight minutes into the match when he perfectly read a Khidir Safour back pass as Hilal were trying to play their way out from the back.

The deadly forward set himself up inside the box before hitting the ball into the bottom right corner.

Hilal gave in a fight as they tried to get back into the game with Gerald Phiri and Eid Mugadam pressing the Sundowns backline, but they couldn’t crack for an equalizer.

In the second half, they stepped up with goalkeeper Dennis Onyango making a magnificent save from a Faris Abdallah freekick.

Late on, Hilal thought they had picked the equalizer when Safour tried to make amends for his bad pass that led to the goal with a header off a corner, but it was Zwane who was positioned at the posts who plucked the effort away.

The visitors threw everything in the final minutes of the game, but Sundowns held on for the maximum points.