Raja Casablanca coach Ricardo Sa Pinto has explained how he warned his players against the danger that Mamelodi Sundowns striker Iqraam Rayners posed but failed to deal with him.
Rayners was the match winner as Sundowns secured their first CAF Champions League group stage victory following a 1-0 triumph over Raja at the Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams brought in a great ball before a pass to Rayners, who was unmarked at the edge of the box, saw the striker fire a low shot past the Raja goalkeeper to break the deadlock after 65 minutes.
It was a goal that left Pinto disappointed as he admitted later that he had done his homework on the former Stellenbosch striker but his players could not execute the game plan.
Pinto disappointed with decision on Rayners
“We know their No.13 [Rayners] always comes inside to shoot the ball in the penalty zone and I told my guys pay attention to the crosses behind [but] unfortunately [we conceded],” he told SABC.
“I brought here players to win, I thought we would control the game but football is like this. We tried to correct things but we conceded the goal and after that, we did not have solutions to change the game.”
Rayners has become Sundowns’ main weapon in recent matches, netting in five straight games, including in back-to-back Champions League ties.
Can Raja make it out of Group B?
The striker was initially well marked but showed great awareness to drift away from the box at times and that decision was rewarded with the goal that put Sundowns joint top of their Champions League group on five points, same as FAR Rabat, while Congolese side Maniema Union have three, as Raja trail with one.
“We still have three games, nine points and everything is possible but it is difficult for us,” Pinto said regarding his team’s place in Group B.
“We did not have luck in other situations of the game. They had one or two attacks but we started feeling some players were tired and when I tried to change the players, we suffered a goal.”
Raja will host Sundowns in their next Champions League game on January 3, 2025.
