Sometimes a scoreline can be misleading, and this was arguably the case when Al Ahly beat Mamelodi Sundowns 2-0 in Cairo last weekend in a Caf Champions League quarter-final first leg encounter.
For Sundowns supporters, there are several reasons to believe that their team can overturn the deficit and book their spot in the semi-finals, where they could find themselves up against local rivals Kaizer Chiefs.
To do that, the Tshwane side will have to score at least twice - a 2-0 scoreline would take the match to penalties - where there is no extra time scheduled.
A rare mistake
Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango has for the past half a decade or so been regarded as one of the very finest on the continent. It was however from a very rare error of misjudgment that Al Ahly were allowed to score their second goal in Cairo last weekend - Salah Mohsen was left with a tap in after Onyango had rushed out of his box and missed the ball.
That goal came in the 89th minute - until that stage the match had been very tightly balanced and could still have gone either way.
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In contrast, home keeper Mohamed El Shenawy was kept busy on the night and had to make numerous saves to keep the South African side off the score-sheet.
The altitude factor
With so much on the line, this is likely to be a match of high intensity. Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi spoke this week of how the high altitude may stop Al Ahly from playing a pressing game, and he noted also that there were times in the Cairo clash when the Egyptian side dropped off and allowed Sundowns to take control.
“The bigger issue is how they approach the game in Pretoria because they will never last very long if they play with the same intensity they played in Egypt, they will be forced to play a counter-attacking game," Mngqithi said.
“I don’t think they are good defensively when they are playing far too deep in their half, which is what made us play better in the second half.
"They did not press us from the top, they retreated and that gave us more latitude to get behind their midfield and also to play between the lines."
A stunning statistic
Incredibly, for a team of Ahly's stature, they have gone 11 games without winning on South African soil (including matches against SuperSport United, Platinum Stars, Bidvest Wits, Orlando Pirates and Sundowns).
That alone should give Masandawana a level of confidence, as should the 5-0 drubbing they handed the Reds just two years ago in Pretoria.