Surprisingly, Sundowns decided to make a change from last Saturday’s five-goal heroics with Gasto Sirino reduced to the bench for Oupa Manyisa.
Masandawana struggled to get going earlier on, with the Egyptians policing their every move from defence to attack.
Ahly posed grave danger 17 minutes in after Walid Azaro’s curler from the far side rattled the upright with Denis Onyango well-beaten,
Azaro proved more menacing, as his half-volley from inside the area forced Onyango into an acrobatic save on the half-hour mark, before the Sundowns shot-stopper did well to keep out Ramadan Sobhi’s right-footed shot closer to halftime
The South African champions though managed to force a few saves out of Al Ahly's Mohamed El-Shenawy courtesy of Lebogang Maboe and Hlompho Kekana.
Ahly were out of firing in the second half, but the flamboyant South Africans proved hard to crack down.
Sundowns looked to shore up the match 61 minutes in following the introduction of Phakamani Mahlambi for Maboe.
The deadlock was broken 68 minutes in after Azaro turned goal-wards to volley home Sobhi’s right-sided delivery.
Sundowns continued being pushed back by the fiery Egyptians, who was in a race against time to level or surpass the aggregate score.
However, the Brazilians had done enough to advance to reach semi-final of Africa’s premier club tournament.
Team:
Subs: Mweene, Lebusa, Vilakazi, Lakay, Tade, Mahlambi, Soumahoro.
