Mamelodi Sundowns secured an emphatic 4-2 win over Al Hilal in Sudan, despite playing with ten men for more than 80 minutes, to maintain their perfect record in Group A.
Sundowns already qualified as group winners before kicking a ball at the Al Hilal stadium after Al Ahly eliminated Al-Merrikh on Friday evening.
And they showed their intentions from the get-go with a near full-strength side as their attacking talisman Peter Shalilile gave them the perfect start with a goal inside two minutes.
The game threatened to become a tricky affair when Brian Onyango received a straight red for a professional foul nine minutes later – but the quality of the South African champions shone through.
Teboho Mokoena netted a stunning second goal on the half-hour mark to put them in command going into the break despite Hilal showing attacking intent.
The home side managed to break the Sundowns defence through Yasir Mozamil Mohamed El Tayeb, which represented the first goal they conceded in five group outings – but it was nothing more than a consolation as Thapelo Morena’s pin-point strike restored the two-goal advantage on the hour mark.
It wasn’t the end of the pain for Hilal as Morena completed his brace in the 89th minute before Mohamed Osman Mokhtar Elnour Eltayib’s stoppage-time strike made it 4-2 as the final scoreline.
However, the result bears no relevance to the group as the Sudanese outfit could still eliminate Ahly in the final game should they win – as they would advance with a superior head to head record.