Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has revealed what made the difference for AS FAR Rabat to deny them maximum points in the first ever CAF Champions League match between the two sides.
Sundowns drew their second successive game in Group B after they were held to a 1-1 stalemate by AS FAR.
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According to Mngqithi, what made the difference for The Militarians was the presence on the bench of head coach Hubert Velud, whose availability was a big question mark after he missed the 2-0 win over Raja Casablanca due to his coaching license being not yet verified by CAF.
"Commending the good work of their coach, because he saw a very big overload. Immediately, before even the first 20 minutes, he made some changes in the structure of the team and that, for me, was a sign of somebody who was fully aware of what was happening," Mngqithi told reporters in the post-match press conference.
"I give a lot of credit to that. They are a very good team. We knew that [Mohamed] Hrimat [goal-scorer] will cause a problem in the far post and unfortunately, in a moment I think my right back [Khuliso Mudau] was fouled in the AS FAR box and immediately they got a transition and they managed to score. But I don't give an excuse, we played against a good team and we gave a good account of ourselves," he added.
The former Golden Arrows coach also admitted that Maniema drawing 1-1 with Raja favoured them somewhat, ahead of their home leg against The Green Eagles at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
"It's another chapter we have to look at very closely, but all I can tell you is that at home is always going be difficult for any opponent that plays against us.
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"At this stage, we have to try to win all our matches and I think we've put ourselves in [a] good position and fortunately in the Raja versus Maniema there was a draw, because I think that puts us in a very good position in the group.
"Though one would have loved to have collected six points by no, but unfortunately in football you must accept," said the 53-year-old coach.