Miguel Cardoso Explains Why Sundowns Lost to Raja Casablanca in CAF Champions League

• Miguel Cardoso has explained why Mamelodi Sundowns suffered their first defeat since he arrived at the club against Raja Casablanca in the CAF Champions League
• The former Esperance de Tunis head coach was unable to end the Brazilians winless run on Moroccan soil as the Green Eagles claimed all three points with a 1-0 win
• The Premier Soccer League defending champions have only one win in the CAF Champions League group stage phase and have two more games to go

Portuguese manager Miguel Cardoso has shared his thoughts on Mamelodi Sundowns' loss against Raja Casablanca in the CAF Champions League on Saturday evening.

The Premier Soccer League giants stumbled to a 1-0 defeat, courtesy of a first-half goal from Benaissa Benamar, who gave the home side the deserved three points against the Brazilians.

Masandawana finished the match with nine men after South African internationals Bathusi Aubaas and Khuliso Mudau were sent off.

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Cardoso On Why Sundowns lost to Raja CA

According to FARPost, Cardoso explained why his team suffered its first defeat under his management against the Green Eagles in an interview after the game.

The former Rio Ave mentor admitted that it was a difficult tie for Sundowns, and they couldn't find spaces in Raja Casablanca's defence.

"It was obviously a difficult match. I think that in the first half, we had to cope with a lot of pressure, which reduced the space to play," the Portuguese tactician said.

"We could not find the available spaces, mainly on the back of their defence.

"They put their defensive line very high. So, we struggled a little bit to find the spaces.

"But what really changed the game is how we suffered a goal in the last minutes of the first half because it's always mentally, emotionally difficult to deal with a goal in the last minutes when we need to reorganise the team."

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The former Esperance of Tunisia coach also shared his thoughts on Aubaas being sent off a few minutes before the half-time whistle was blown.

He gave an insight into how he set up the team before they resumed the second half after being one man down.

"We had just lost one player, so we needed to arrive at half-time for us to eventually make all the arrangements and tactically position the team in the best way," he added.

"Even suffering the goal, we did it. It was clear that we managed to control the game during the second half."

Sundowns' next match will be an away fixture Maniema Union in the CAF Champions League, before ending the group stage phase with a home match against AS FAR Rabat.

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Source: Briefly News