Monnapule Saleng: Sundowns coach reveals how he plans to utilise ex-Pirates star

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has shared his thoughts on Monnapule Saleng after the winger made his debut for the club on Sunday.

Saleng came on as a second half substitute when Sundowns were 1-1 against Sekhukhune United but played a part in the second goal, which was scored by Iqraam Rayners, who later netted the third, as Cardoso’s men won 3-1.

The former Orlando Pirates star was a constant threat on the wings with Sundowns tiring Sekhukhune in the latter stages of the match before they opened them up to win the game with two late goals from Rayners.

Cardoso thrilled with ex-Pirates star

It was a positive start for Saleng, who joined Sundowns in January, but had to wait for his debut after arriving while injured and his coach is delighted by what he has seen so far.

 “It’s clear that teams need players that can be aggressive towards defenders and those players need to start but a team like Sundowns also needs players that do that from the bench in moments where teams are tired or broken,” said Cardoso.

“Saleng did well, Saleng is a player that has high quality, a player that wins his own duels and can play left or right wing.”

🗣️ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠

"Don't get surprised if you see him have different positions on the pitch"@SABC_Sport | #BetwayPrem pic.twitter.com/VS22RrfEmw

— Mazola J. Molefe (@superjourno) March 1, 2026

“Unfortunately, I only recently started working with him because he was injured but he made a fantastic recovery, we don’t want to put pressure on his comeback,” added Cardoso, who is keen to manage Saleng’s minutes.

Sundowns coach on Saleng’s best position

“Obviously, he has recovered and understating what we need from him. He can play outside, inside so don’t get surprised if you see him having different positions on the pitch. Today [Sunday] we needed to keep the structure because [Khuliso] Muadu was struggling with his ankle and we could not expose him to much in attack.

“Also, we did not want to expose ourselves too much in defence so decided to expose him on the right at the moment Tashreeq [Matthews] was lacking energy and it worked fantastic for the team.”

Cardoso also hopes that Saleng will be patient enough to wait for his opportunities as he will not play regularly at Sundowns given the quality the team has unlike when he was the star at Pirates before his purple patch last season.

“I just hope he also understands everything moving forward because we support him very much,” said the Sundowns coach.