Photo Credit - Mamemodi Sundowns.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso believes his charges dropped their game after scoring their first goal in the 3-1 comeback Betway Premiership victory against Marumo Gallants at the Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium on Wednesday.
The Brazilians, who went into the fixture seeking to bounce back to winning ways following the shock 1-0 defeat against TS Galaxy in their last assignment, found themselves trailing 1-0 at halftime after Sede Dion’s header in the 37th minute gave the home side the lead.
However, Sundowns responded swiftly in the second half, with Marcelo Allende leveling the score early on, followed by Lucas Ribeiro’s 79th-minute strike that put Sundowns ahead. Iqraam Rayners then secured the win with a late goal, wrapping up the comeback in style.
“I think, after we scored the first goal we lost ourselves a little bit exactly eventually, because of that anxiety of trying to make the second goal,” Cardoso told SuperSport TV as quoted by idiskitimes. “But I also told them that the nail could be big, but the hammer would be stronger to put it in the wood, and we did it so completely out of question the merit of the victory.”
Cardoso continued: “What I said to the boys at halftime was very simple and very clear – there’s no, no way to change, nothing. Just keep and going and going.”
Sundowns finished the game with 10-men after goalkeeper Denis Onyango was sent off in the dying moments for picking up two quick yellow cards and speaking on the send-off, Cardoso defended his players.
“I knew that the game could become emotional, and it was important to deal with that. As much as we could focus on what we wanted for the game the best.”
He concluded: “It was even interesting to see how we finished. But it’s becoming too easy to put our players out of the out of the games repeatedly. And this is a very disciplined team, and it looks like not, but they are. They are.”
The victory widened Sundowns' lead to 12 points over second-placed Orlando Pirates, who saw their match against Golden Arrows postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
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