Al Ahly ended Mamelodi Sundowns’ impressive winning run in the Caf Champions League group stages after they played out to a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo.

Peter Shalulile of Namibia put the visitors ahead after 34 minutes in a thrilling Group B game in Cairo. Hany missed a chance to tie the game when his weak kick in the second half was saved by Ronwen Williams.

Ahly kept putting pressure on Sundowns in the second half, and after 59 minutes, it paid off when Mohamed Abdelmonem headed in a goal from a corner when Sundowns was caught off guard.

Hussein el Shahat took advantage of some weak defense to put the home team ahead with a shot that beat Williams at his near post with 74 minutes left in the game.

But Sundowns had the last word when substitute Thapelo Morena tied the game 10 minutes before the end.

Cassius Mailula hit the post with a shot, and Morena jumped on the rebound. He kept his cool and drove the ball past goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy into the far corner.

A tie was a fair result for a game that was full of flowing, attacking play and in which both teams missed a lot of chances and defenders made some great stops.

Even though Sundowns lost their first point after beating Al Hilal of Sudan and Coton Sport of Cameroon, they are still in first place with seven points halfway through the six-round group phase.

Hilal has six points, Ahly has one point, and Coton has none. This is in a group where the Egyptian and South African teams were expected to win and get the two spots in the quarterfinals.

Ahly will play Coton at home next Saturday, but two of their other three games are in South Africa and Cameroon because of the Club World Cup.

The Cairo club has been in five of the last six Champions League finals, so if they don’t move on, it would be a huge surprise.

With Sundowns’ tie, only Esperance of Tunisia and Raja Casablanca of Morocco are the only teams with a perfect record in their group.

Mohamed Ben Hammouda scored in the first half, and Mohamed Ben Romdhane scored in extra time to give Group D’s top team, Esperance, a 2-0 victory over Egypt’s worst team, Zamalek, in Rades.

Hamza Khabba kept up his streak of scoring a goal in every game for Raja in Group C. Naoufel Zerhouni also scored as Raja beat second-placed Horoya of Guinea 2-0 in Casablanca.

Photo by Weam Mostafa/BackpagePix