Sundowns held to goalless draw by MC Alger in Algiers, stay top of Group C

Mamelodi Sundowns earned a valuable Champions League away point after they played to an exciting 0-0 draw with Algerian side MC Alger at the Ali La Pointe Stadium on Friday night.

With this share of the spoils, that unfolded in front of a packed and lively crowd, the Brazilians stay the Group C leader with four points from two rounds of matches.

Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso will be happy with the result but this is not what Rulani Mokwena was looking for as Alger are stuttering out of the blocks with one point from two matches.

Alger lost their opening match against Al-Hilal Omdurman last weekend and they are still looking for their first win of the season in the tournament.

Sundowns may be overtaken at the top by Al Hilal who take on Saint-Éloi Lupopo on Sunday.

Lupopo are desperate for a win after they lost to Sundowns at Loftus last weekend.

This result also means Mokwena has failed to beat his former employers in his first meeting against them since he left Chloorkop about two years ago.

The match started at frantic pace with Alger edging Sundowns when it came to chances created but attackers Oussama Benhaoua, Alhassane Bangoura and Zinedine Ferhat could not beat Ronwen Williams.

One of the most notable moments of the early exchanges saw Teboho Mokoena bring down Zakaria Naijdi on the edge of the box but Williams was equal to the task from the resultant free-kick.

It turned out to be a busy evening for referee Jean Ouattara and his assistants Syedou Tiama and Habib Sanou from Burkina Faso given the tempestuous nature of the match.

There was only one surprise in the Sundowns starting line-up as Cardoso started with Divine Lunga at left back ahead of Aubrey Modiba.

Elsewhere, it was a strong team with players like Williams, Grant Kekana, Khuliso Mudau, Mokoena, Nuno Santos, Marcelo Allende and Iqraam Rayners.

Mokwena also went with his tried and tested team but they could not take advantage of the comfort of home to get their campaign on track.

Sundowns nearly caught Alger flatfooted when a close range effort of Tashreeq Matthews flew over the crossbar with goalkeeper Alexis Guendouz stranded after 25 minutes.

Just before the half-hour mark, Sundowns defenders Mudau and Keanu Cupido were beaten by the speedy Bangoura in a move that ended with Alger’s free-kick.

As he tried to recover, Cupido brought down Bangoura on the edge of the box and the resultant free-kick from Aimen Bouguerra ricocheted off the Sundowns defensive wall.

Moments later, Ferhat wasted a good opportunity to open the scoring as he casually put the ball over the crossbar thinking he was offside.

But the far-side assistant did not raise his flag as the sleepy Sundowns defence went off the hook.

Sundowns started the second half brightly by dominating possession and sharing the ball with Santos, Miguel Reisinho, Mokoena in the thick of things in the midfield.

There were numerous notable moments in the second half but not good enough to produce a goal as they settled for the share of the spoils.

One of the key moments of this match was Themba Zwane coming on in the closing stages to replace Reisinho and spark hopes he may be considered by Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos when he announces his squad for Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) next week.