Sundowns Get The First Victory In The CL

Mamelodi Sundowns registered their first win in the CAF Champions League as they beat Moroccan giant Raja Club Athletic 1-0 at Loftus Stadium on Sunday.
Former Stellenbosch attacker Iqraam Rayners scored the only goal of the match in the 65th minute, following a brilliant build-up pass by Ronwen Williams to substitute Kutlwano Letlhaku to set up the Bafana Bafana striker. Rayners, who dropped on the edge to the box, struck it well and the ball came off the upright and into the net.
The win came in what was the first game for the newly appointed coach Miguel Cardoso who replaced Manqoba Mngqithi last week on Tuesday. The Portuguese tactician made four changes on Sunday on his team that played a 1-1 draw against AS FAR last week in Morocco.
Mosa Lebusa, Devine Lunga, Siphelele Mkhulise, and Neo Maema replaced Mothobi Mvala, Aubrey Modiba, Bathusi Aubaas & the Namibian striker Peter Shalulile. The Brazilians didn’t start this game very well, as it was the Moroccan side who were in control in the early stages and got some chances.
However, Cardoso’s side started playing well after 30 minutes, they almost got a goal through Lucas Ribeiro Costa, but the Brazilian talisman was denied by Abdellah Khafifi who made a great tackle.
No one managed to score in the first half as it ended 0-0. In the second half, Sundowns introduced the youngster Lethlaku who substituted Mkhulise. The home side came very much alive in the first 10 minutes, and Lunga was so dangerous on the left side but they failed to score.
The Brazilians continued with their great display and they managed to get the first goal in the 65th minute. Williams had a great distribution to Lethlaku who assisted Rayners’ goal, his second goal in successive matches after he scored in a 1-1 draw against AS FAR last weekend.
In the 70th minute, Raja got a free-kick and they thought they scored through Mohamed Boulacsout but the flag was up from the assistant referee for an offside. Raja got another goal after five minutes but it was an offside again.
After 90 minutes, the match was interrupted by one fan who went to Williams but the security took him [fan] out of the pitch. Bafana Ba Style cemented their second place with five points after three games, tied with FAR, but they are separated by the goal difference.
Sundowns’ next Champions League game will be against the same Moroccan on 3 January next year at Stade Larbi Zaouli in Morocco, in what will be a return match. But finally, Sundowns is up and running in the group stages which was a concern.
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[…] had to dig deep to get over the line, with Bafana Bafana striker Iqraam Rayners scoring a great goal to ensure the Brazilians […]
[…] Sportive de Tunis coach won his first game as a Sundowns coach as they beat the Moroccan giant Raja 1-0 at Loftus Stadium on […]