Iqraam Rayners maintained his hot scoring streak as he got the Miguel Cardoso reign up and running when his goal helped Mamelodi Sundowns to a 1-0 victory over Raja Casablanca on Sunday.
Cardoso took charge of his maiden match as the Brazilians went in search of their first CAF Champions League group win and they got it thanks to Rayners, although it was not a straightforward victory.
After a first half, where both sides struggled to break each other, Rayners latched onto the ball just outside the box to fire a low shot which went past Raja goalkeeper Anas Zniti.
The move was started by CAF Awards nominee Ronwen Williams, after which a neat exchange of passes saw the ball fall to a free Rayners on the edge of the box, and the former Stellenbosch FC striker made no mistakes even though Zniti should have done better.
Rayners’ hot streak continues
With Cardoso’s predecessor Manqoba Mngqithi revealing that Rayners is the only player he asked the club to sign, it was perhaps fitting that it is the striker who got the new coach’s reign up and running, as he continued his impressive run in front of goal, given this was his fifth match in a row in which he has scored.
Further, Rayners has now scored 11 goals in 14 games across all competitions, an impressive return for Mngqithi’s signing.
Sundowns started quickly with Neo Maema, who got a rare start, creating the first chance after three minutes but there was a scare shortly after when goalkeeper Williams went down with an injury.
Williams, however, got medical attention and resumed before Lucas Ribeiro saw a shot just fly past the post while there was a penalty shout for the home side when Khuliso Mudau was brought down in the box four minutes later.
Sundowns made to work for their win
After the break, Sundowns kept pressing for the opening goal but had to wait until the 65th minute when Rayners found the back of the net.
Sundowns were, however, made to work for their win as Raja had the ball in the back of the net twice after, but both goals were ruled offside.
Adam Ennaffati thought he had got the leveller 20 minutes from time when he latched onto the ball from a freekick but he was in an offside position when he received the ball and four minutes later, another Raja goal was flagged down having beaten Sundowns’ high defensive line.
Wlliams was also made to pull off some key saves to protect the lead as Sundowns secured their first win in the Champions League, having started with a goalless draw against Maniema Union from DR Congo, before last week’s 1-1 stalemate away to Morocco’s AS FAR Rabat which proved to be the last match for Mngqithi.
