Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso made a key tactical admission following his side’s hard-fought victory over Golden Arrows to reach the Carling Knockout Cup semifinals.
The Brazilians secured a narrow 1-0 win over Abafana Bes’thende at Loftus Versfeld, courtesy of a second-half header from Iqraam Rayners.
Speaking after the match, Cardoso praised Arrows’ defensive organisation, admitting that his team found it particularly difficult to unlock a disciplined backline in what turned out to be a tense, highly tactical battle.
Sundowns will now await their semifinal opponents, with the remaining three quarterfinal ties scheduled for the upcoming weekend.
“Of course, not many goals and when there’s not many goals it seems that the game is not as…But it was, it was a very tactical match,” said Cardoso in the post-match reaction on SuperSport TV.
“It had a lot of intensity, with a lot of difficulties to break that defensive structure of Golden Arrows.
“We played them, we knew that it was important to have a lot of players outside to shift the game from one side to the other, make them go across to one side to the other and try from there to penetrate.
“I think we could have scored even in the first half and take the lead. But yeah, the team was focused, kept the stability on the behaviours and naturally the things happened, so congratulations for the boys.”