South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns will take a massive advantage into next Sunday’s second leg of the African Champions League final after beating Zamalek 3-0 in Saturday’s first leg in Atteridgeville, on the outskirts of Pretoria.

Not since 2010, when TP Mazembe beat Esperance of Tunisia 5-0, has a club built such an emphatic first leg lead in the final. Anthony Laffor and Tebogo Langerman made it 2-0 at half-time, with the third coming just after the break.

Sundowns are now firm favourites for the second leg in Alexandria where they will seek to win their first continental trophy and become only the second South African side to win Africa’s top club prize.

Sundowns, watched by a capacity 40 000 crowd, were full value for the win, running Zamalek ragged on a hot afternoon.

But they did take their foot off the pedal in the closing stages where Zamalek gamely kept going in search of a consolation that might give them a chance in the return.

Sundowns scored first just past the half-hour mark when captain Hlompho Kekana played through a pin-point pass that saw Liberian international Laffor turn and then belt the ball with power.