Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso attributed their CAF Champions League defeat to Raja Casablanca on a high defensive line which prevented his charges from finding spaces.
Sundowns suffered their first defeat of the CAF Champions League away from home at the hands of Raja this season after being to 10 men in the first period as the Green Eagles immediately took advantage of that by going into the halftime break leading 1-0.
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Despite being a man and a goal down, Sundowns pushed for the equalizer, but the Raja defence remained firm and committed as they saw out the win, avenging the defeat they suffered in Tshwane.
Cardoso stated that they conceded in the crucial moments of the game which was towards the end of the first half. The Portuguese mentor also quickly wants to forget about this one and focus in the next one against AS Maniema Union away from home.
“It was obviously a difficult match. I think that in the first half especially we had to cope with a lot of pressure, which reduced the spaces to play,” Cardoso reacted to the loss.
“We were not able to find the spaces that were available, mostly on the back of their defence.
“They put the defensive line very high, so we struggled a little bit to find the spaces, but what really changed the game was the way we suffered the goal in the last minutes of the first half because it is always mentally, and emotionally difficult to deal with the goal in the last minutes when we need to reorganize the team.
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“We had just lost one player, so we needed to arrive at half-time in order for us to eventually make all the arrangements and tactically position the team in the best way.
“And even suffering the goal we did it, it was clear that during the second half, we managed and we controlled the game, we just gave some opportunities in counterattack for Raja.
“And unfortunately, we were not able to score. We managed tactically different approaches in the second half after the red card, we rebalanced the team in order to try to do our best to win. And we had the two, or three moments we didn’t take advantage of them and unfortunately, the result is what it is.
“Now, it’s important to focus on the next one, look forward, we have an important match, obviously, you know, we play away with Maniema.
“So, let’s recover as much as we can our players. Let’s also see because we lost three players for the next match. Let’s try to see who is ready and in condition to give the answer we need. For sure, we’ll do it and see the best tactical approach that we can win next match and make the qualification closer.”
Sundowns’ defeat saw them extend their winless run in Morocco to six losses and three draws in nine outings.
