Mamelodi Sundowns booked their place in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final for the second successive season with a composed 1-0 victory over Espérance Sportive de Tunis in Pretoria.
The South Africans progressed aftersecuring a 2-0 aggregate triumph on Saturday.
The result sends Sundowns into their fourth Champions League final in history.
Holding a narrow advantage from the first leg in Tunis, Sundowns entered the return match with confidence but were immediately tested by an Espérance side determined to overturn the deficit.
The breakthrough came in the 35th minute after a costly error by goalkeeper Béchir Ben Saïd, who fouled León inside the penalty area.
The Colombian striker saw his initial spot-kick saved, but reacted quickest to slot home the rebound and extend Sundowns’ lead to 2-0 on aggregate.
It marked Sundowns’ first penalty in a Champions League match in over two years, ending a run of 25 games without one, and León made it count to continue his impressive scoring form.
The forward has now scored in four consecutive starts.
Espérance nearly responded before the break when Yan Sasse burst down the flank and delivered a dangerous cross, but Florian Danho’s effort crashed against the crossbar, summing up the visitors’ frustration.
The South African champions are now into their fourth final and a second in successive seasons, extending an unbeaten run that has made Pretoria a fortress in recent campaigns.
However, Espérance lost both games of a two-legged knockout tie in the CAF Champions League for the first time since the 2022-23 semi-finals against Al Ahly (0-3 and 0-1).
While ES Tunis’ goalkeeper Béchir Ben Saïd emerge as the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in a semi-final or final game in the CAF Champions League since Al Ahly’s Mohamed El Shenawy in the semi-final tie against Wydad Casablanca in October 2020.
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