The Brazilians ended their tour of Austria with convincing back-to-back wins ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Mamelodi Sundowns ended their Austria tour with a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.
Bulky Senegal international and former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly was among the players who featured for the Middle East outfit. Established Serbia striker Alexander Mitrovic, who scored 35 goals last season in the Saudi top tier, was also involved but Neymar was missing owing to fitness issues.
The Premier Soccer League champions started with new striker Arthur Oliveira Sales and winger Kobamelo Kodisang started the game, but Lucas Ribeiro started from the bench.
Sundowns show their character
The first half was evenly balanced with either team getting a fair share of chances that were not taken.
After the break, Al Hilal were awarded a penalty after a handball in the danger zone, but veteran Ugandan goalkeeper Denis Onyango did well to deny the 29-year-old Serbia international with a fine save.
Ribeiro, who had been introduced for the second part of the game, then put Masandawana in front with a screamer in the 50th minute.
However, eight minutes later, the teams were on level terms. The African Football League champions conceded another penalty. This time around, Mitrovic selected his spot and coolly hit the target.
Aubrey Modiba then struck what turned out to be the winning goal in the 65th minute to give Downs a deserved win.
Downs started their pre-season with a 2-1 loss against German third-tier side SV Sandhausen before falling by a solitary goal to Ukrainian heavyweights Dynamo Kyiv. In the game against the English Championship side, the Brazilians forced a 1-1 draw.
Their first win was on Friday morning against Qatari top-tier side Al Arabi SC where they claimed a huge 3-0 win before another 2-1 victory later in the day against Al Hilal.
