Tunisian club Esperance qualified for the final of the African Champions League for a second successive time when they beat Africa Sports of the Ivory Coast 2-0 on Saturday.
Both South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, which won 2-1 in Pretoria against Sable de Batie of Cameroon, and Esperance ended their six matches in group A with 12 points, but Esperance pipped Sundowns on goal difference.
Africa Sports was third two points further back.
Esperance, which lost in the final last year to Raja Casablanca and missed out on a place in the World Club Championships in Brazil, plays Hearts of Oak of Ghana in the final.
The first leg will be in Tunis on December 2 with the return in Accra on December 17.
The Tunisian club, which had to win to make sure of progressing, took the lead on halftime through Bilal Lahmer and sealed its win 10 minutes into the second half through international striker Maher Kanzeri.
Esperance did have some good fortune along the way, none more so than last weekend when Sundowns was thrashed 6-1 in Abidjan by Africa Sports.
That defeat severely dented the South Africans' goal difference and left them having to better Esperance's winning margin in Saturday' final group game by five goals.
Sundowns started with three strikers against the Cameroonian side in Pretoria but was a goal behind after just 45 seconds when Laurent Effa Effa netted for Sable de Batie.
An own goal from Vincent Kom brought it level in the eighth minute, but it had to wait almost an hour before captain Daniel Mudau scored the winner in the driving rain.
The result left the future of Sundowns' Dutch coach Clemens Westerhof under threat, the former Nigerian World Cup coach having been brought on board with the express aim of winning a place in the final.
The mini-league phase of the Champions League concludes on Sunday with two final matches in group B in which Hearts of Oak has an unassailable five-point lead.
African Champions League group one
Esperance Tunis (Tunisia) 2 Africa Sports (Ivory Coast) 0
Scorers:
Bilal Lahmar 45, Maher Kenzari 55
Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 20,000
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) 2 Sable de Batie (Cameroon) 1
Scorers:
Mamelodi Sundowns - Vincent Kom 8og, Daniel Mudau 66
Sable de Batie - Laurent Effa Effa 1
Halftime: 1-1. Attendance: 2,000
Final standings P W D L F A Pts
Esperance 6 4 0 2 12 7 12
Mamelodi Sundowns 6 4 0 2 11 11 12
Africa Sports 6 3 1 2 12 8 10
Sable de Batie 6 0 1 5 5 14 1
Tunisian club Esperance qualified for the final of the African Champions League for a second successive time when they beat Africa Sports of the Ivory Coast 2-0 on Saturday.
Both South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, which won 2-1 in Pretoria against Sable de Batie of Cameroon, and Esperance ended their six matches in group A with 12 points, but Esperance pipped Sundowns on goal difference.
Africa Sports was third two points further back.
Esperance, which lost in the final last year to Raja Casablanca and missed out on a place in the World Club Championships in Brazil, plays Hearts of Oak of Ghana in the final.
The first leg will be in Tunis on December 2 with the return in Accra on December 17.
The Tunisian club, which had to win to make sure of progressing, took the lead on halftime through Bilal Lahmer and sealed its win 10 minutes into the second half through international striker Maher Kanzeri.
Esperance did have some good fortune along the way, none more so than last weekend when Sundowns was thrashed 6-1 in Abidjan by Africa Sports.
That defeat severely dented the South Africans' goal difference and left them having to better Esperance's winning margin in Saturday' final group game by five goals.
Sundowns started with three strikers against the Cameroonian side in Pretoria but was a goal behind after just 45 seconds when Laurent Effa Effa netted for Sable de Batie.
An own goal from Vincent Kom brought it level in the eighth minute, but it had to wait almost an hour before captain Daniel Mudau scored the winner in the driving rain.
The result left the future of Sundowns' Dutch coach Clemens Westerhof under threat, the former Nigerian World Cup coach having been brought on board with the express aim of winning a place in the final.
The mini-league phase of the Champions League concludes on Sunday with two final matches in group B in which Hearts of Oak has an unassailable five-point lead.
African Champions League group one
Esperance Tunis (Tunisia) 2 Africa Sports (Ivory Coast) 0
Scorers:
Bilal Lahmar 45, Maher Kenzari 55
Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 20,000
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) 2 Sable de Batie (Cameroon) 1
Scorers:
Mamelodi Sundowns - Vincent Kom 8og, Daniel Mudau 66
Sable de Batie - Laurent Effa Effa 1
Halftime: 1-1. Attendance: 2,000
Final standings P W D L F A Pts
Esperance 6 4 0 2 12 7 12
Mamelodi Sundowns 6 4 0 2 11 11 12
Africa Sports 6 3 1 2 12 8 10
Sable de Batie 6 0 1 5 5 14 1
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