Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says their defeat to Kaizer Chiefs is the result of not having Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) in South Africa.
Cardoso said Chiefs were well worth their efforts of the game, fighting until the end, but the game should have gone to extra-time, given that the images portray Ashley du Preez to be off-side for the last-minute winner.
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Sundowns went into the break with Teboho Mokoena handing them the lead with the last kick of the half, with a stunning free-kick but Amakhosi fought back through second half goals when Wandile Duba profited from Lucas Suarez defensive error and then Du Preez’s late winner.
“It’s clear, we cannot run away from it, a mistake, individual mistake that led to the 1-1 result, and for all of you if you are fair enough, that the game would go on until the end without any capacity from Chiefs to change the direction of the game,” he said.
“Anyway, football is like that, the mistake was capitalised and games are sometimes decided on detials and today the detail came for the oppponent, came from a mistake for the equaliser. But we don’t kill anyone, we give a hand to the player and play to solve problems.
“So that’s what the team did, obvioysly it’s not easy to receive a goal like that and reaction but I think the team reacted and we kept the intention to score the second goal, we kept ourselves in the game, we kept giving stimulus to the players, coping with substitutions from Chiefs that also just wanted to play long balls in the spaces.
Nothing came out from there, we controlled it completely and then it was obvious then comes a goal that is offside, I think you all saw, if you didn’t go back and look at it because it’s clear, clear, clear.”
Cardoso suggested that should VAR have been accessible in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), something he has not been shy to speak about since his arrival in the country, the result would have been level at full-time.
He whipped out his cell-phone in the post-match press conference to drive home his point of the Du Preez incident.
“When we work in a country that doesn’t have VAR, that is what happens, but just go back, take the images from the TV and there’s a team that loses this competition from a mistake from the referee, I think we’re penalised enough through this season, regarding refs mistakes,” he said.
“I remember goals scored, in games we didn’t win away, Peter scored more than one goal and today we’re out the competition, four miniutes from the end with an off-side goal, it is what it is – we need to stand up.
“We win together, we lose together but we should have done more, nothing to say about Chiefs, they fought for this game, congrats to them and to their coach for the result, we just regret we could not do more but its clear we’re out of the competition.
“We still had 30 minutes to play and a long story to be written, but there was no time to write the last chapter of this book, it is what it is, we keep the story like it was.”
