Sundowns seek Carling Knockout semi-final place against Golden Arrows

Mamelodi Sundowns will look to continue their recent winning run when they host Golden Arrows in the Carling Knockout quarter-final at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday at 19:00.

The match comes five days before Sundowns face USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup on Sunday, with Miguel Cardoso’s side aiming to build momentum after a 4-1 victory over Durban City at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday.

Following their elimination in the preliminary stages of the Champions League, competitions such as the Carling Knockout and the Super Cup have taken on added importance for Masandawana.

Tuesday’s fixture will be the fourth meeting between Sundowns and Arrows this season. The sides first met in the MTN8 semi-finals, where the Brazilians lost the opening leg 1-0 before winning the return match 3-2 and progressing on away goals. Sundowns then secured a 2-1 league victory over Arrows.

Cardoso said defeating Arrows was vital as Sundowns seek to carry their improved form into their continental clash with USM Alger.

“We have the Carling Knockout, and at the weekend we have the Super Cup. We had a big setback, as you know, in our season,” Cardoso said.

“It was an important moment that we should have accomplished, but we did not. We need to deal with that responsibility, and the only thing we can do is to be as strong as we can.

“That’s the only thing I can promise to Sundowns supporters that we will push to fight for everything. We don’t promise anything but work, determination and a lot of commitment.”

Golden Arrows will arrive hoping to produce a significant cup upset, although their recent results have been inconsistent. They were beaten by AmaZulu at the weekend in returning coach Mandla Ncikazi’s first game in charge.

Ncikazi is beginning a new spell with Abafana Bes’thende and will be determined to prevent successive defeats after the narrow 1-0 loss to AmaZulu.

The short turnaround has limited the amount of time available for him to work on specific areas of the team before the meeting with Sundowns.

“We have a challenge right now there’s not much time. We have another game on Tuesday. So, we want to train in certain aspects, but we are playing games. But that’s the responsibility of a coach,” Ncikazi said.