Sundowns start slow but value for win, says coach Cardoso

Mamelodi Sundowns struggled for rhythm in the first half against AmaZulu but were much improved after the break and full value for their 2-0 win, said coach Miguel Cardoso after Tuesday’s Betway Premiership triumph.

It was a first league win of the new campaign after Sundowns had been held 1-1 away by Chippa United in Gqeberha in their opening league clash on Sunday.

“I think that we had a lot of players out of position because of too much mobility in the first half and that took us to a very uncomfortable place in order to play football, some uncertainty, not finding the connections, not finding the space in the places where usually we find spaces that are free, not the proper connection between the players on the pitch,” said the coach after the victory at Loftus Versfeld.

“And we suffered. We didn't suffer in terms of chances but in terms of being comfortable to play the game that we want to play and to put aggressive pressure on the opponent in the way we should.

“Obviously, we made some corrections, and we tried to bring on players that could offer some other things,” Cardoso explained after Tashreeq Matthews and Aubrey Modiba came on at halftime.

“We started to play with the dynamics that usually we have, and we could find ourselves. I think we should have gotten a second goal earlier so that we could get the stability to cope with long balls from AmaZulu, who started to put numbers in the front and just kicking the ball up over our defenders. That was not easy to deal with. The game broke a little bit, and because of that there were chances for both sides, but I think the final score was completely fair.”

90’ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Tashreeq Matthew’s find the back of the net after another assist from Arthur Sales to double our lead. #Sundowns #BetwayPrem #AreyengMasandawana pic.twitter.com/OMbllF8ImR

— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) August 12, 2025

Cardoso said he and his players had been exceedingly disappointed after the 1-1 draw with Chippa United.

“We are a club that wants to win all matches, so being disappointed with the drawn result is normal. If you saw our locker room after the draw, it looked like someone died. It's normal, and acceptable, that people are not happy, especially that Chippa got their equaliser from a deflection. We were very, very unhappy because we drew a match that we deserved to win.”