Cape Town — The nine-man Mamelodi Sundowns bravely held out for a goalless draw against Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca in the first leg of their CAF Champions League semi-final at the Stade Mohammed on Saturday evening.
The second leg will be played next Saturday at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.
The hosts showed early attacking intent, and their pressure forced the visiting Sundowns to concede a corner in the fourth minute. However, the set piece did not yield dividends after the South Africans dealt effectively with the threat.
Sundowns gradually came into their own as Wydad seemed content to sit back and allow the opposition to take the game to them. In the ninth minute, Sundowns' defence hoofed an innocuous kick up field, and Namibian striker Peter Shalulile picked up the ball just past the halfway line.
He raced in to score, and his low parting shot drifted between the legs of Youssef El Motie, the Wydad goalkeeper and into the nets.
After consulting VAR, Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea, the Ghanaian referee cancelled Shalulile's goal because he was marginally offside when he ran onto the ball just past the halfway line.
Sundowns suffered an even bigger setback two minutes ahead of the halftime break when attacking midfielder Neo Maema has harshly red-carded, much to the delight of the Wydad players, who appeared greatly relieved that the goal was disallowed.
A minute later, Wydad was denied by Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams who pulled off an acrobatic save when he turned Mohammed Ounajem's on-target header away for a corner. This was far and away Wydad's best chance for a first-half score.
In the second half, Williams came to Sundowns' rescue again on the hour mark when he dealt with a fierce drive from Wydad defender Zouhair El Moutaraji.
As the second half wound to its close, Wydad were enjoying the benefit of the numerical advantage, and for the first time, they had the lion's share of possession.
Three minutes from the end, Shalulile made a dramatic attempt to score with an acrobatic effort, but the ball flew marginally high over the crossbar. Given Wydad's dominance after the break, this was Sundowns' only shot at goal.