Has Cardoso hinted ‘someone clever’ Abongile Tom denied Sundowns PSL win?

Mamelodi Sundowns and Siwelele battled to a 1-1 draw in the Premier Soccer League outing staged at the Dr. Molemela Stadium on Wednesday night.

Vincent Pule struck for the hosts before Lebo Mothiba responded for the Premier Soccer League’s defending champions. Masandawana ended the game with 10 men as Teboho Mokoena was sent off in the 80th minute.

After the game, the Brazilians’ coach expressed his disappointment with the way the game was officiated by centre referee Abongile Tom.

Did referees cost Downs?

“We had a massive control in the second half, we scored, but someone on the pitch, more clever than everyone else, decided to make the game difficult for us,” the tactician told the media.

“And that’s the story of the game. It seems like people come here and speak a lot and make teasers out of this match.

“But in this match, there was Sundowns trying to score and the other team just handling them, nothing more.

“I said there was someone clever, I didn’t speak about the referee,” Cardoso further added when asked about the Mokoena red card.

“It’s up to you to analyse, you had the TV, and you can say what you saw, not me. I don’t know. I don’t want to be punished.”

Sundowns punished for not scoring more goals

“These kinds of games always have a story that is very easy to tell. Yes, there was a draw, but the reality is that there’s a team that fought from the very beginning wanting to win this match,” Cardoso added.

 “I think we started well and brought the kind of dynamics we wanted inside the pitch, and obviously, there’s a mistake that brought some energy to the opponents. That challenged the emotional state of my players, but with the experience we have, we should not let that get to us; but continue to be loyal to ourselves. And we know we should have scored more

“Indeed, we were not able to finish strong in the first half, but we made the changes in the second half. And then the story of the match, we had to play the last 15 minutes with less than one player,” he further explained.

“It was clear that my player just played the ball and did nothing against the opponent, and he received the second yellow card. The story of the game can be told in different ways, but for those who are fair and clever in the way they see the game, there’s another story to be told.

“If you want to look at the result and make a story out of the result, you can tell another story. We fought for the three points against a team that is honest and has the capacity to organise, and we had to risk a lot. It is a pity that we didn’t finish the job,” Cardoso concluded.