Sundowns put a foot in group stage blowing Remo away in Abuja

Mamelodi Sundowns have one foot away in the Caf Champions League group phase after their 5-1 thrashing of Remo Stars in their second preliminary round first leg at MKO Abiola International Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday.

Goals by Tashreeq Matthews (12th minute), Peter Shalulile (42nd), Miguel Reisinho (61st), Arthur Sales (75th) and Katlego Ntsabeleng (85th) guided Masandawana to an impressive win ahead of the return leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday (3.30pm).

Samson Olasupo provided Remo’s lone reply in the 77th.

It was a dominant performance from Sundowns, who showed a level of quality their inexperienced Nigerian opponents did not have answers to. The hosts offered little going forward and hardly troubled Ronwen Williams in Downs’ goal.

Sundowns showed their intention by opening the scoring early through Matthews, who slotted home with a lovely finish from outside the box after he picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area.

Masandawana suffered a blow in the first half when defender Malibongwe Khoza was stretchered off with an injury, though there was a hugely able and experienced replacement for him in Grant Kekana.

The Brazilians continued their dominance as they searched for more goals, with the hosts struggling going forward.

New recruit Reisinho came close to increasing their lead when he got on the end of Marcelo Allende’s free kick, but his header was tipped for a corner by Remo goalkeeper Adebiyi Obassa approaching the interval.

Shalulile doubled the lead minutes before the break when he latched onto a through-pass and calmly slotted into the far corner.

Remo’s best chance came on the stroke of half time with a point-blank effort in the area, but Williams was up to the task.

Sundowns continued where they left off in the second half and Portuguese midfield signing Reisinho opened his Brazilians account scored their third of the afternoon as he he connected well with Khuliso Mudau’s cross, before substitute Sales netted the fourth 15 minutes from time.

The hosts pulled one back a minute later through Olasupo against the run of play, but Sundowns were not done as Ntsabeleng netted their fifth with a tap-in from Lebo Mothiba’s cross.

In Sunday’s lone Betway Premiership result, Marumo Gallants produced a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Chippa United at Dr Molemela Stadium.