{"id":48221,"date":"2026-01-23T21:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=48221"},"modified":"2026-01-23T21:14:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:14:47","slug":"sundowns-held-to-frustrating-draw-by-al-hilal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/23\/sundowns-held-to-frustrating-draw-by-al-hilal\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundowns held to a frustrating draw by 10-man Al-Hilal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>The visitors were reduced to 10 men late on when Emmanuel Flomo was shown a straight red card.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Mamelodi Sundowns were forced to settle for a 2\u20132 draw against Al-Hilal, who ended the match with 10 men in a pulsating CAF Champions League Group C clash at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sundowns-trail-early\">Sundowns trail early<\/h2>\n<p>Despite dominating possession for long periods, Sundowns found themselves trailing early as the visitors drew first blood in the 15th minute through Abdelrazig Omer. A deflected ball over the defence sent the forward through on goal, and he responded with a thunderous finish into the roof of the net.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> Pirates coach Ouaddou delivers verdict on new signings<\/p>\n<p>The hosts responded positively and restored parity just six minutes later. Arthur Sales showed composure and strength to control Marcelo Allende\u2019s long pass before calmly steering the ball past Al-Hilal goalkeeper Farid Ou\u00e9draogo from close range.<\/p>\n<p>The sides went into the interval level, but Sundowns emerged with greater intensity after the break. For the second match in succession, head coach Miguel Cardoso opted for a change up front, introducing Brayan Le\u00f3n in place of Lebo Mothiba at the start of the second half.<\/p>\n<p>The substitution added more bite to Sundowns\u2019 attack, and Le\u00f3n came close to giving the hosts the lead on the hour mark, only to be denied by a fine save from Ou\u00e9draogo.<\/p>\n<p>Sundowns eventually found their breakthrough in the 64th minute when Teboho Mokoena produced a moment of quality. The midfielder struck a sublime long-range effort from just outside the box, sending the ball into the top corner after a well-rehearsed set-piece.<\/p>\n<p>However, Sundowns were unable to protect their advantage as Omer struck again seven minutes later. Poor defending allowed the forward space inside the area, and he punished the hosts with a powerful low shot\u00a0 to complete his brace.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-red-card\">Red card<\/h3>\n<p>The visitors were reduced to 10 men late on when Emmanuel Flomo was shown a straight red card for a dangerous elbow on Khuliso Mudau in the 84th minute. Sundowns pushed for a winner in the closing stages, but Al-Hilal held firm to earn a valuable away point and maintain their unbeaten run in the group.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ASLO READ:<\/strong> Mabaso on \u2018dream\u2019 Kaizer Chiefs debut<\/p>\n<p>The draw sees Sundowns remain top of Group C on five points, level with Al-Hilal but ahead on goal difference. Saint-\u00c9loi Lupopo will host MC Alger on Sunday, with both sides still searching for their first victory of the group stage.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Sundowns #held #frustrating #draw #10man #AlHilal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The visitors were reduced to 10 men late on when Emmanuel Flomo was shown a straight red card. Mamelodi Sundowns&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48223,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48221\/revisions\/48223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}