South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns lifted the inaugural African Football League title after beating Morocco’s Wydad AC 2-0 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday. The ‘Brazilians’ were 2-1 down prior to Sunday’s game in Pretoria before Peter Shalulile and Aubrey Modiba scored from either half to ensure the trophy stays in South Africa with a 3-2 aggregate win. Sundowns started the game brightly and could have found the back of the net in the second minute but Teboho Mokoena saw his effort sailing over the cross bar to the relief of Wydad’s traveling fans. The visitors, having survived the early scare, quickly got their acts together as they decided to spread the ball to the wings and whip in crosses in order to destabilize the Sundowns’ back four. They were able to make inroads into the Sundowns vital area but lacked the needed fire power upfront. Shalulile in a swift move nearly located Lucas Ribeiro with a superb ball in the 24th minute but Attiat-Allah produced a masterstroke of defending as he intercepted the ball before it could reach the intended target. Sundowns continued their incessant pressure on Wydad AC with Ribeiro hitting a superb strike which missed the upright by inches in the 25th minute. ALSO READ: AFL: Sundowns host Wydad in nervy final showdown Neither was able to break the deadlock as both teams went for a cooling break due to the scorching sun in Pretoria. The final ten minutes of the first half saw the opponents trying to drag defensive players out of their shells in order to penetrate. Sundowns’ dominance paid off in the 45+3 minutes of the first half injury time as Shalulile fired them ahead with a great finish. The first half ended with the Sundowns leading 1-0 and being the better side. After recess, Sundowns continued to dominate ball possession, pressing towards the Wydad penalty area with series of attacks. Shalulile nearly capitalized on a defensive blunder but Wydad keeper El Motie was quick as he reacted early enough to save the danger in the 49th minute. Wydad looked very jittery as they failed to find their rhythm thereby allowing Sundowns to have more possession. Aubrey Modiba made it 2-0 for Sundowns in the 52nd minute with a fabulous finish as they seemed to have put the game beyond the reach of the Moroccans. The Moroccans started to push for a goal to keep their hopes on the title alive. Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams pulled a superb save from a Bouly Sambou header to keep his side in the game. Rhulani Mokwena brought on Bongani Zungu for Lucas Ribeiro in the 65th minute as he sought to provide more steel in the middle of the pitch with the tough tackling enforcer. The Sundowns players were very organized as the final ten minutes of the game saw them not going much forward as they decided to catch their opponents on the break. There were not much clear chances created in time added on as Sundowns held on to an empathic win. Besides the glittering trophy, Mamelodi Sundowns took home a cash prize of $4,000,000, with runners-up Wydad AC pocketing $3,000,000 while semi-finalists Al Ahly and Esperance de Tunis were rewarded $1,700,000. Meanwhile, each of the quarterfinalists walked away with $1,000,000.
