Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 6y

Sundowns stunned in Togo as Champions League bid falters

Mamelodi Sundowns' CAF Champions League hopes suffered a blow, after they lost 1-0 at Group C minnows AS Togo-Port in Lome on Tuesday, to slip to the bottom of the pool.

The 2016 champions were playing their first game in two months and their rustiness showed as they missed a number of chances and allowed a soft goal for home striker Ayi Hunlede.

A tame shot deflected off Sundowns defender Ricardo Nascimento, which played Hunlede onside and he calmly finished.

Sundowns had more than enough chances to grab something from the fixture, but poor finishing saw them slip to a defeat which leaves the Pretoria-based side with only two points from their first three games in the competition.

The other match in the pool saw defending champions Wydad Casablanca held to a 1-1 draw at Guinea club Horoya.

Both goals in the game were scored in three first half minutes as Ismail El Haddad had the visitors in front in Conakry, but Ocansey Mandela provided an almost immediate reply for Horoya.

Those two sides head the pool with five points, followed by Togo-Port (three) and Sundowns (two).

Al Ahly picked up their first win of the campaign under new coach Patrice Carteron as they defeated Botswana side Township Rollers 3-0.

Moroccan forward Walid Azarou opened the scoring, before a penalty from Ali Maâloul and a third by Islam Mohareb sealed the points for the Cairo giants.

Tunisian side Esperance staged a remarkable comeback in the other match in the pool as they came from two goals down to beat Ugandan outfit KCCA 3-2.

Jackson Nunda and an own goal from Khalil Chemmam gave KCCA a shock 2-0 lead inside the opening 22 minutes, but Esperance responded quickly as Anice Badri and Saâd Bguir had them level just past the half-hour mark.

The winner came in the 81st minute as Bilel Mejri steered the ball home, much to the relief of the home side.

Esperance lead the pool with seven points, followed by Al Ahly (four), and Township Rollers and KCCA on three each.  

TP Mazembe made it a full haul of nine points from three games in Group B after they secured a 1-0 home success over Algerian side USM Alger in Lubumbashi.

Meschak Elia scored the only goal of the game as Mazembe just about secured their passage through to the quarterfinals with victory over their main group rivals.

The other Algerian side in the pool, ES Setif, claimed their first points with a come from behind 2-1 success over Moroccan club Difaâ El Jadida.

Mohammed Ali Bemammer had put the visitors ahead, but El Habib Bouguelmouna equalised and Houssam  Ghacha scored a late winner, to the relief of the Setif fans.

Mazembe have nine points, Alger four, Setif three and El Jadida one.

Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel took charge of Group D with a 3-0 win at Mbabane Swallows as Karim Aouadhi, Maher Hannachi and Amine Chermiti netted in an emphatic away success.

The other game in the pool between Zambian side Zesco United and Angolan outfit Primeiro de Agosto ended goalless.

Etoile have seven points, followed by Swallows (four), Primeiro (two) and Zesco (two).

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