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Johannesburg - Mamelodi Sundowns accomplished their mission, and KBY (Ka Bo Yellow) was the resounding slogan at Lucas Moripe Stadium as the yellow submarines ran riot on Saturday.
The supporters, who heeded calls to fill up the Pretoria stadium with their favourite team’s yellow colours, left the venue a happy lot after Sundowns’ five-star performance.
But the Brazilians, despite winning this first round at home, somehow made an easy job look hard. Ideally, Sundowns should have buried the visitors with an avalanche of goals.
They had Zamalek on the back foot for the better part of the game, but they could not make ball possession turn into more goals.
They seemed content with the three goals which they scored, yet they could have done a lot better than that.
To their advantage, they did not concede at home, which would have given the visitors a lifeline going into the second leg next Sunday.
Sundowns are now 90 minutes away from clinching the CAF Champions League trophy, but it will be their longest hour and a half, particularly because they will be playing away from home.
After the 3-0 demolition of the Egyptian giants, the Brazilians know that they now have one hand on the trophy.
But the job is not yet done. They are halfway through the final and should brace themselves for a backlash in Egypt.
Despite beating Zamalek in their own backyard earlier in the group stages of the tournament, coach Pitso Mosimane’s side will be aware of the hosts’ ability in front of their own supporters. Zamalek put four goals past their semifinal opponents Wydad Casablanca at home last month.
But Sundowns are not Casablanca and should give a good account of themselves. They should fancy their chances of lifting their first-ever continental silverware.
They will have to fight on until the last minute. Zamalek showed, at times, that they are a good side, particularly Ahmed Hassan, who was a constant menace to the Sundowns team.
They might have lost this tie away from home, but the Egyptians are dangerous when playing on home ground.
With the two sides labouring in the opening half hour, something had to give. The visitors were there for the taking.
After marinating the north Africans for some time, Sundowns did not waste time in going for the kill as the visitors were ready to be slaughtered.
The 15:00 kickoff worked well for Sundowns. The hot conditions worked on the Egyptians as they soon ran out of steam as the heat took its toll.
Sundowns stepped up a gear after realising Zamalek had nothing more to offer.
Supporters deserved to get something out of Sundowns’ performance, and it was not long before they celebrated the opening goal after Hlompho Kekana’s pass found Anthony Laffor in a good position.
The Liberian international did not waste the glorious opportunity as he put the hosts ahead. And with the supporters asking for more, the Brazilians gave them what they wanted, another goal, to put the overall game beyond their visitors’ reach.
Tebogo Langerman’s dipping shot took goalkeeper Ahmed Mahmoud by surprise when it found the back of the net after he miscalculated the flight of the ball.
Then Sundowns went for the final kill as they wanted to wrap the tie at home before next weekend’s second leg away in Alexandria.
They did not have to worry much. They were quick off the starting blocks in the second half and scored their third goal.
A minute into the second half, a Percy Tau cross was deflected by Tarek Hamed into his own net. Tau wasted more chances to put his name on the score sheet in the second half as his decision-making failed him.
Sensing more trouble was coming his way, Zamalek coach Moemen Soliman sacrificed his captain Mahmoud Fadlallah for a defensive Ramzi Moawad in an effort not to let in more goals.
The approach seemed to work as there was no way through for Sundowns until the end of the game.
But it is advantage Sundowns!
