Mamelodi Sundowns edged St. George 1-0 in the African Champions League group C fixture at Addis Ababa Stadium Saturday.
Liberian winger Anthony Laffor delivered a sucker punch to silence the partisan home crowd and seal the much needed three points and take pressure off coach Pitso Masimone’s shoulders.
Sundowns are now joint top of the group standings on eight points same as leaders Esperance du Tunis who play AS Vita Club later today.
St. George will pinch themselves for loss – having missed countless scoring opportunities including a penalty.
The Horsemen managed to master the slippery pitch early and were a thorn in the flesh of the Brazilians, who were largely kept in the game by the brilliance of Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango.
Salhadin Said, who is the leading top scorer in the competition with seven points, missed a penalty on the stroke of half time after Anele Ngcongca handled in the box.
Onyango was equal to the task as the reigning African Player of Year based in Africa dived the right way to punch out the ball.
The visitors grew stronger in the second stanza and on two occasions Laffor squandered promising chances – blasting over the bar.
However, he atoned for the misses with wonder strike off Hlompho Kekana beautifully delivered cross from the right in the 85th minute.
Sundowns will host AS Vita in the final group match next week while St. George will travel to Tunisia to face Esperance.
