Mamelodi Sundowns have work to do after Golden Arrows defeat, says Miguel Cardoso

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso insists their MTN8 semi-final against Golden Arrows is only at half-time, despite his side suffering a 1-0 defeat in the first leg.

Junior Dion’s first-half goal secured victory for Arrows at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium on Sunday, handing Sundowns their first loss of the season. A much-changed Sundowns team struggled to find a way through a disciplined visiting defence, but Cardoso believes the result can still be overturned in the second leg.

The CAF Champions League-winning coach said Sundowns had created enough opportunities to take more from the match, pointing to their 22 attempts, six of which were on target. Golden Arrows, by contrast, had only one shot on target and it was the effort that produced the winning goal.

“It’s a result that’s half of the match, we could have built a more comfortable situation but it’s just half of the job and time played,” he said in the post-match press conference.

Cardoso felt his side had made a positive start before being disrupted by a goalkeeper change. The substitution process took seven minutes, and he believes that interruption affected Sundowns’ concentration and intensity.

“We started well until the moment the keeper had to be substituted, Arrows tried to close everything, we knew where the spaces would be created.

“Those seven minutes to change the player broke the focus and energy, it shouldn’t happen, we made mistakes for the goal.”

Golden Arrows capitalised after Sundowns lost possession and left themselves exposed defensively. Cardoso said the incident created instability, although he noted that Arrows had been clinical with the limited opportunity they produced.

“We lost the ball and were unbalanced in defence, it brought instability, at half-time the talk, they had one shot, one goal, football is like that…”

The Portuguese coach acknowledged that Sundowns had not received the reward their attacking performance appeared to merit, describing the outcome as unfortunate rather than a major cause for concern.

“I think there was misfortune, not the best result,” he continued: “But it’s half-way let’s see what we can bring next week but we have a mid-week match to think about now.”

Sundowns must now turn their attention to a midweek home fixture against AmaZulu before travelling to face Golden Arrows in the second leg at King Zwelithini Stadium next weekend.

The 1-0 deficit leaves Sundowns needing to overturn the tie in the return match if they are to progress in the MTN8. Cardoso, however, believes the contest remains open and that his team will have the opportunity to correct the problems that cost them in the first meeting.

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