Mamelodi Sundowns booked their place in the African Football League final after eliminating Al Ahly following their goalless draw at the Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday.

The Brazilians survived an early scare when Ahly were awarded a penalty in the eighth minute after Percy Tau was brought down in the area. Ali Maaloul stepped up to take the spot-kick but had his effort saved by Ronwen Williams.

The Egyptian giants had another opportunity to take the lead in the 28th minute after Williams dropped the ball in the area but Rivaldo Coetzee came to his rescue to block Kaharaba’s effort on goal.

Sundowns were unable to carve out any clear-cut chances in the first half as the game went into the break locked at goalless.

Rulani Mokwena opted to bring on fresh legs early in the second half as Mvala made way for Bongani Zungu, while Ahly rang chances of their own as Anthony Modeste and Reda Slim came on to replace Hussein El Shahat and Kahraba.

Sundowns were then reduced to 10-men with seven minutes left to play when Junior Mendieta was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge.

Ahly thought they should have been awarded a penalty late in the game when Malooul’s cross hit the arm of Mkhulise but after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) had a check it was confirmed that the incident happened outside the box.

Sundowns managed to hold on until the final whistle to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory over Ahly to step up a final against Wydad Casablanca.

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