Sundowns’ Cardoso – ‘It was not a very beautiful match’

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has admitted the narrow 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs was perhaps not as spectacular as he would have liked.

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Lucas Ribeiro proved to be the difference between the two teams by scoring the only goal of the match for the Brazilians at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Sundowns defend well

Masandawana had to defend well to secure maximum points against a spirited but blunt Chiefs side that lacked firepower up front.

“Sometimes, these types of matches, in terms of the tactical side of the game, are not the most beautiful ones, but sometimes these matches are very interesting in terms of the tactical questions, and that’s what we saw today,” Cardoso said.

“It was a wonderful game, played in a fantastic atmosphere with respect between the two parties, but it was not a very beautiful match.

“We had 68 hours between the start of this match and the beginning of the previous one, so it was a big challenge to prepare for the match.”

Cardoso – ‘The fatigue was clear’

Cardoso once again bemoaned the number of matches his side has had to play over the past two months. Despite picking up yet another victory, the Portuguese coach blamed fatigue for his team’s tentative performance.

“The fatigue was clear on our players today. It was absolutely clear in the way we played, and we could not sustain our play in terms of intensity because fatigue is not only physical, but it’s mental,” he added.

“The decision making was not always the best, but hard times demand extreme measures, and I told the team that we could win the match, and that’s what we did.

“We competed in different moments of the match, and we defended when we needed to. I told the players that we would have our moments, and in those moments, our individual capacity could give us something, and that’s what happened.”

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“We scored from a very good tactical movement, and we had to change the structure to be more balanced in defence because we were not able to press high. During the second half, we changed again twice so that we could cope with moments of the game. It was a fantastic job from the boys, and we had a good victory in a very difficult match.”