MC Alger head coach Rulani Mokwena says Mamelodi Sundowns were the better team and deserved to progress to the quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League.
The Algerian champions fell to a 2-0 defeat to Sundowns in Mokwena’s homecoming, his first time facing the club since his exit two seasons ago.
Colombian striker Brayan León netted a goal in each half as MCA hardly looked threatening to Ronwen Williams’ goal in what was a hard fought victory from the home side – who needed three points to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.
“Congratulations to Sundowns because in the end I think today they were the better side and they deserved to win, so congratulations to them and good luck to them for the rest of the competition,” Mokwena told SABC Sport.
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“I think it wasn’t just about today’s game, we left it a little bit too late, we dropped points in some games like in Rwanda, we came back to make it 1-1 [vs Al Hilal]. At home against Sundowns, we had a couple of chances and we should have won that game instead of a point.
“That makes a bit of a difference then we could have won or taken a point against Lupopo in Congo, but that’s football, we take a point and move on. We have a lot of work, you need more than a few seconds for me to debrief [this campaign].”
Sundowns progress as runners-up in Group C, while Al Hilal of Sudan top the standings after their 1-0 win over Lupopo in Rwanda in the simultaneous 15h00 kickoff this afternoon.