Sundowns blow chance for important away win in CAF Champions League stalemate

Mamelodi Sundowns and Sudan's Al-Merrikh SC drew 0-0 in their Group A clash of the CAF Champions League at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Saturday in wet conditions.

The result means that Sundowns head the Group with four points from two games ahead of Al Ahly, Al-Hilal Omdurman and Al-Merrikh all with one point.

Minutes after kick-off - Themba Zwane of Sundowns tried his luck with a right-footed shot from the right side of the six-yard box, which was saved by goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti.

A hotly-contested encounter comes to a close in Cairo! The Brazilians keep a clean sheet and secure a point! ??Al Merrikh 0???0?? Mamelodi Sundowns#Sundowns #DownsLive #TotalEnergiesCAFCL pic.twitter.com/RmEgXC00JE

A little later Bradley Ralani put Erwin Saavedra through on goal for Sundowns but he was flagged for offside.

On 10 minutes, Al-Merrikh had a goal attempt blocked by the Sundowns defence when Mohamed Alrashed's left-footed shot from range after receiving a pass from Ahmad Mohammad.

Khuliso Mudau of Sundowns took an angled shot at goal in the 18th minute but the ball flew high and wide.

Sundowns had a lot more possession during the first-half but were being kept at bay by good defending.

In the 34th minute, Saavedra received a pass from Zwane but his shot from in front of goal was blocked by the Al-Merrikh defence.

Downs were forced to substitute Saavedra in the 38th minute with Thabiso Kutumela because of an injury.

Just before the half-time break, Al-Merrikh came very close to scoring when Tony Edjomariegwe fired a long-range shot that narrowly missed the top right corner.

The sides went in at the half-time break with the scores tied at 0-0. Sundowns to their credit did take the game more to the Sudanese side and looked the more likely to