Mamelodi Sundowns cruised to the CAF Champions League group stages with an 8-0 aggregate win over Mbabane Swallows in the second preliminary round.
CAF Champions League
Result: Mamelodi Sundowns 4-0 Mbabane Swallows (8-0 on agg.)
Date: 21 September 2024
Venue: Lucas Moripe Stadium
With Brazilians holding a 4-0 lead from the first leg, coach Manqoba Mngqithi rang the changes as there was a rare start for Saavedra, who returned the club this season while Rushine de Rueck, Bathusi Aubaas and Thembinkosi Lorch also got starts.
The hosts enjoyed possession from the onset but it was Swallows who carved out the first real opening after ten minutes but goalkeeper Denis Onyango was alert and made the save.
Sundowns opened up the Swallows defence on a few occasions in the opening 20 minutes, but Swallows Mathabela Sandanezwe produced a few big saves to thwart Peter Shalulile on two occasions.
Swallows' resistance broke just before the halftime break as Sundowns opened the scoring when Kodisang got his first goal for the club with a close-range finish after being set up by Divine Lunga.
Sundowns carried that momentum into the second period as the lead was doubled on the hour mark when Malibongwe Khoza got his first senior team goal with a close-range header.
The third goal arrived three minutes later as Kodisang turned provider to pick out Lorch, who connected with a first-time effort to open his account for the season.
For the second week in a row, Sundowns managed to get four goal as Mkhulise got his name on the score-sheet with a powerful finish from close range, getting his first goal of the campaign.
With the team comfortably leading, the coach made a couple more changes as Aubrey Modiba replaced Lunga while Kegan Johannes replaced Saavedra for his Sundowns debut to see out the rest of the win.
Here's how they lined up:
Mamelodi Sundowns: Onyango, Lunga, Khoza, De Reuck, Mdunyelwa, Aubaas, Saavedra, Mkhulise, Lorch, Kodisang, Shalulile.
Subs: Pieterse, Modiba, Letlhaku, Zwane, Maathews, Mabena, Maseko, Johannes, Coetzee
