Mamelodi Sundowns laboured to a 1-0 win over Stellenbosch on Wednesday night in the Premier Soccer League fixture staged at the DHL Cape Town Stadium.
Iqraam Rayners scored the only goal against his former team to help Masandawana avenge the MTN8 elimination. The win means Sundowns have won eight out of the nine PSL games played this season.
It was Miguel Cardoso's second consecutive win after taking over as Downs coach following the dismissal of Manqoba Mngqithi a couple of days ago.
It wasn't easy!
The Portuguese tactician conceded getting maximum points against the 2023/24 Carling Knockout champions was not a walk in the park.
“It’s important everyone understands how difficult it is to play here, against a very aggressive team, always looking for the long ball, avoiding the press,” the 52-year-old told the media.
“I think we managed well in the first 30 minutes of the game, quite confident to handle their press, but then it’s difficult to keep that intensity. We understood how to start the game, using the spaces behind their defence.
“We created many chances, I think we should have scored a second goal, it never came, we created so much – but in the end, we had to hold onto the result, an important one and we started preparing for the next one. Important victory, congrats to the players and fans.”
Why the many changes?
Cardoso made six changes from the team that played Raja Casablanca on Sunday in the Caf Champions League fixture. He was happy with the overall output of those given a chance.
“How many players did we not have [on Wednesday]? I’m really so happy the guys [did well] even the ones who don’t play so much, now we think about the next game,” he continued.
“It’s clear there’s a big commitment in the team, the team is playing short distances, playing together in attack, playing together in defence as a unit, closing the spaces, controlling the different moments.
“I want to add more and more goals, so we can embrace this but it’s important also to know how to defend, not just how to attack. Today I believe we could have finished this game much sooner.”
The next test for Cardoso will be on Tuesday against AmaZulu in another PSL fixture.
