Rulani’s Alger Humble Al-Hilal To Overtake Sundowns

Image via Mouloudia Club d’Alger Facebook

Rulani Mokwena’s MC Alger moved up to second spot in Group C after defeating Al-Hilal 2-1 in CAF Champions League action on Friday night.

Mokwena’s charges got their campaign back on track last weekend after securing a 2-0 win over Saint-Eloi Lupopo, which was their first win in this season’s group stages, while the Sudanese giants overcame Mamelodi Sundowns in Rwanda seven days ago.

Having already suffered defeat to Al-Hilal on match day one, the Algerian champions got off to the perfect start when Moslem Anatouf found the back of the net on 15 minutes after being set up by Zinedine Ferhat.

The home side would go on to double their lead just before the halftime break when Zinedine Ferhat opened his account in the group stages with a close-range strike, leaving the Sudanese giants shell-shocked after going into the break two goals down.

It was a disappointing first half for the visitors, who only managed to register a single effort on target compared to the three efforts for Mokwena’s side, although the possession was evenly shared between the two sides.

Al Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf was clearly not happy with what he saw in the first period and responded with a triple change at the start of the second half, with Ahmed M’Bracek, Madicke Kane and Sunday Adetunji thrown on to freshen up the attack.

The changes paid off for the visitors, who pulled a goal back with 13 minutes left on the clock as M’Bracek bagged his first goal in the group stage phase.

However, the Algerian giants were able to see out the closing stages to claim back-to-back wins, which sees the side mvove up to second spot in Group C, one point behind group leaders Al Hilal, who have now suffered their first defeat of the campaign.

Mokwena’s charges will now switch focus to next weekend’s reunion with Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld, while the Sudanese side will host Lupopo in their final group stage clash.

Related tags