COD Meknes boss Abdelhay Ben Soltane has explained how his side exploited Rulani Mokwena's Wydad Athletic Club to walk away with an important victory this week.
The two sides met in a Botola Pro 1 encounter on Wednesday evening, with Meknes picking up a much-needed three points to push themselves from 14th to 13th position on the table.
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The Red Castle may have headed into the game as favourites, and lived up to those expectations by making a good start to the match. The South African tactician's side thought they had open the scoring after the 15-minute mark, but Mbaye Niang's effort did not stand as officials ruled it offside.
The deadlock would not be broken until after the half-time break when Meknes kicked it up a gear, which resulted in them winning a penalty that was converted by Adnane Berdad. The hosts would win another penalty in the 74th minute, with Anas El Mahraoui making no mistake from the spot to double his side's lead.
Niang had the opportunity to reduce the deficit with a spot-kick of his own late in the game, but his effort was saved by a lively Reda Bounaga.
Speaking after the match, Mokwena admitted that his side "made many mistakes" and were "far from their level", which is what Meknes boss Ben Soltane said his players capitalised on.
"Wydad has a large arsenal of players, and we tried to exploit the opponent's defensive mistakes, put pressure on them, did not leave them any spaces, and worked to stop their strengths," Ben Soltane said in a post-match conference, per Tunisie Numerique.
"We tried to stay balanced and create the opportunities and spaces that the opponent opened up.
"The same thing happened in the second half, which was the success of the strategy we adopted, so we continued in the same vein.
"We scored two goals from two mistakes, and as usual our goalkeeper saved a penalty-kick.
"We did not concede any goals, and that is what matters to us.
"We tried to score goals and not concede them, and we saw high spirits from the players."
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By Junaid Benjamin
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