Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has explained why his side has been conceding so much since the start of the new season.
The Brazilians have enjoyed a strong start to the 2026/27 campaign, competing well in both the Betway Premiership and the MTN8, where they have reached the final.
Sundowns currently sit at the top of the league standings after claiming a 2-1 victory over Golden Arrows in Durban on Sunday afternoon.
Despite their impressive results, however, Sundowns have conceded more goals than expected, with their defence appearing vulnerable at times.
Cardoso believes individual mistakes have played a major role in the goals they have allowed. The Portuguese coach also pointed to injuries, which have forced him to make several changes to his starting XI and defensive combinations.
“Look, I think what is obviously important is how we balance those goals. Obviously, that was nice to not suffer in the previous match,” said Cardoso.
“Today we suffered a goal that I believe that I already commented with 10 players on the pitch because the team [Arrows] didn’t have the maturity to put the ball out.
“What I would like people to do, because I see also a lot of people speaking the goals we suffered, but no one took time to go and analyse goal by goal and see why they happened because most of them, they don’t come from collective behaviours. They come from simple mistakes that the players are doing.
“Obviously, I think that is also clear that the intensity we are playing is quite high. The team in the last three or four matches put a high tempo on the pitch. Also, it’s clear that this team lost a lot of direction from the last year.
“Keanu [Cupido] is not on the pitch, Jayden Adams is not on the pitch, Nuno Santos is not on the pitch, Arthur Sales is not on the pitch, and I could say that Khuliso Mudau is not on the pitch. So, there is a lot of changes that also obviously brings the need of finding the connections. It will settle down.
“Obviously, I would like to have less goals suffered in the moment, but I am pretty happy because we are also scoring a lot. And I think if you go back and see, probably we are making one of the best starts from the last many years.
“I don’t want to comment because people will say I speak too much but just go back and take a look and see the stats and the numbers, and you will see the team is going in the right direction.”
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