CAFCL: Brian Mandela benched as Sundowns demolish Bumamuru in Tanzania

Kenyan international Brian 'Niang' Mandela watched proceedings from the substitutes bench as 13-time South African Premier Division champions Mamelodi Sundowns began their CAF Champions League journey on a high, registering a dominant 4-0 victory over Burundian side Bumamuru in the first leg match of the second preliminary round of this year’s CAF Champions League staged at the Azam Complex in Tanzania.

Coming in as game favorites, playing in an astroturf surface wasn’t going to affect the competition semi-finalists from last season, as they broke to an early lead through a 12th minute penalty from Lucas Ribeiro Costa.

The visitors then grabbed a second deep in the half, in the 37th minute, through the 24-year-old Brazilian for his brace, before Lesiba Nku scored the third goal for Masandawana inside the last four minutes of the hugely one-sided clash.

The South African side’s brakes were not on in the second half either, as they began the second half on the same tempo, but managed the game deep midway through it, eventually nicking a fourth and final goal through one of their substitutes in Namibian Peter Shalulile in the 80th minute.

The match saw no other goals, as Sundowns registered yet another clean sheet for goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, and most importantly, took a huge road win before the return leg in two weeks time.

Mandela’s last involvement in the team was on 9 August 2023, when he came off the bench to feature for 14 minutes in a 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs.

Brian Mandela back in action as Sundowns pip Kaizer Chiefs

Mandela however clocked 90 minutes for Harambee Stars in their recent international friendly match against South Sudan at the Kasarani Stadium on Tuesday 12 September, and was also a late entrant in Kenya’s first friendly against Qatar on 7 September.

With the win, Sundowns are now unbeaten in their first nine games of the season, recording eight wins and a draw, while scoring 19 goals in the process.

The only match that Downs failed to win since the season began was the 1-1 semi-final draw against Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN Cup first leg.