Rulani talks about Hilal win but stays silent on Sundowns tie
Photo: Rulani Mokwena
MC Alger coach Rulani Mokwena reacted to his team’s hard-fought 2-1 victory over Group C leaders Al-Hilal Omdurman in the CAF Champions League on Friday.
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Moslem Anatouf opened the scoring in the 15th minute, before Zinedine Ferhat doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, while Ahmed M’Bracek scored the winner for the visitors in the 78th minute.
As a result, Mokwena’s men overtook Mamelodi Sundowns and moved into second position, having collected seven points from five games.
The South African tactician admitted that getting a favorable result against the Sudanese giants was no walk in the park and lamented the persistent lack of cutting edge in front of goal.
“In the Champions League you cannot control the opponent. We are playing against a team that has just beaten Sundowns and tied in Pretoria. It is a team that has many very good players: (Mohammed) Abdel-rahman, (Adama) Coulibaly, Jean-Claude (Girumugisha),” Mokwena said.
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“This is a team that has scored more goals than anyone else in the group, so we knew that at some moments we were going to have to suffer and I am very proud that we suffered and suffered together as a team.
“I think if there’s one thing that disappoints me it’s the amount of chances we missed because in the Champions League it’s all about the details, but I’m happy that we’re creating chances. At home against Sundowns we had some good chances, and at Lupopo we could have scored more than two and tonight we could have scored more than two.
With the Group C finale scheduled to be against Sundowns in Pretoria, Mokwena was silent when asked about the match which is expected to be tense due to the high stakes.
“I won’t say anything about the next match, there are people waiting for a comment, so I won’t say anything about the next match. Let me enjoy this victory only for 24 hours. I’m going to sleep tonight, I don’t watch any match, I will watch the match we played tonight,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Miguel Cardoso’s men will face FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday. Having collected five points from four games, Sundowns will top the group with a victory over the stubborn Congolese team.