Miguel Cardoso - Photo Courtesy Sundowns Media.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has reflected on his team’s 1-0 defeat against Raja Casablanca in a Caf Champions League match played at Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca, Morocco on Saturday.
The match was marked by drama and tension, with three red cards issued. Sundowns' Bathusi Aubaas received a straight red for a reckless challenge in the first half, reducing the South African side to 10 men before conceding the decisive goal.
Raja's Benaissa Benamar capitalised on disorganised Sundowns’ defending during first-half stoppage time, scoring from close range after a precise cross from Youssef Belammari.
“It was obviously a difficult match, I think in the first half we had to cope with a lot of pressure and that reduced the spaces to play, we were not able to find the spaces that were available mostly at the back of their defence because they put their defensive line very high,” Cardoso told Pan-Africa Football.
“We struggled a little bit to find the spaces but what really changed the game is the way we suffered a goal in the last minute of the first half because always mentally, emotionally it was difficult to deal with a goal in the last minute when we needed to reorganize the team.
“We had just lost one player and so we needed to arrive at first half without conceding and make the arrangements tactically on how to tackle the second period with a man down.
“Even after conceding it was clear in the second half we managed to control the game but unfortunately we were not able to score, we managed tactically a different approach in the second half and after the red card we rebalanced the team to try to win and we had two, three moments but we couldn’t take advantage and fortunately the result is what it is.”
Cardoso, who suffered his first defeat since joining Sundowns, said his team had shifted focus to the next fixture against Maniema Union at Stade des Martyrs on Saturday, January 11.
“It is now important to focus on the next one, we look forward to the next match obviously now that we will play away against Maniema. So let us recover as much as possible and let us see what happens, we lost three players for the next match but we will try to see who is ready and see the best tactical approach that we can use and make the qualification closer.”
The defeat left Sundowns second in Group B with five points from four matches.
Comments