MC Alger head coach Rulani Mokwena has refused to entirely celebrate his side’s 2-1 CAF Champions League victory over Al Hilal Omdurman at the Ali La Pointe Stadium on Friday.
It was a second successive win for the Algerian side in Group C to move second on the table and close the gap on leaders Al Hilal to just one point. It was MC Alger’s penultimate group game as they now prepare to face Mamelodi Sundowns in a battle that will determine their progression to the quarter-finals.
Making Friday’s victory something to cherish for Mokwena was his side removing Sundowns from second spot and handing themselves a good chance to reach the knockouts. However, the Brazilians could reclaim second position if they beat FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo away in Lubumbashi on Sunday.
Should Sundowns lose, they will drop to the bottom of the standings, making their last group game a matter of life and death. But whatever the result in Lubumbashi, next weekend’s clash between Masandawana and MC Alger in Tshwane is a potentially stormy affair.
That makes Mokwena cut short his celebrations of Friday’s win over Al Hilal, as he is quick to point out his team’s shortcomings.
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While the former Masandawana coach is proud of his men, he has raised concerns about their clinical edge in front of goal.
“I will not say anything about the next match, there are people waiting for my comments. So I will say nothing about the next match. Allow me to enjoy this victory just for 24 hours,” Mokwena said.
“In the Champions League, you cannot control the opposition. We played a team that just beat Sundowns and they drew in Pretoria. A team that has very good players who have the capacity to create anything in any moment.
“This is a team that is very difficult to control for 90 minutes. It’s a team that scored more goals than anyone else in the group. We know that in some moments we were going to suffer and I’m very proud that we suffered together as a team.
“But that’s Champions League for you. If you think you can play with zero chances for the opposition, it’s possible, but very difficult. I’m proud of the team, I’m proud of the effort and I don’t want that to spoil my feelings about the performance.
“I think there is something I’m disappointed with. It’s the number of chances we missed. But I’m happy we are creating the chances. At home here against Sundowns, we missed a lot of chances. We could have scored more than two, and tonight [Friday] we could have scored more than two as well.”
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