MTN8: Cardoso Refuses to Get Carried Away After Mamelodi Sundowns’ Draw Against Pirates

• Miguel Cardoso has shared his view about Mamelodi Sundowns' 1-1 draw against Orlando Pirates in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final
• The Portuguese tactician refused to get excited about his team getting an away goal, as he wanted to head back home with a win
• Sundowns supporters were not happy with some of the things the former Nantes manager said during his post-match interview on social media

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has reflected on the Brazilians' 1-1 draw against Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 semi-final first leg over the weekend at the Orlando Stadium.

Cardoso lost his last match against Pirates in the league before facing them in the MTN8 semi-final this weekend.

The Betway Premiership champions scored the first goal of the match through Teboho Mokoena’s headed opener, but the Soweto giants pegged back in the closing stages of the game as Kamogelo Sebelebele cancelled out their opening goal.

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Cardoso speaks on Sundowns' advantage ahead of 2nd leg

Cardoso, while speaking ahead of the second leg, claimed the draw doesn't feel like a defeat even though he wanted to head into the next match with a clean sheet.

“It’s a draw, and it doesn’t feel like a defeat,” Cardoso said after conceding a late equaliser against Orlando Pirates.

“Of course, we wanted to take the win home, but if you ask any coach whether they’d take a 1-1 from this game, they’d probably say yes. We’re only halfway through the tie, we would’ve liked to hold the advantage, but we didn’t.”

Looking ahead to the second leg, Cardoso emphasised the importance of their away goal but knows it won’t be enough on its own.

“Scoring away is valuable, but it’s not a guarantee. It depends on how the second leg plays out. We know that if we keep the Pirates from scoring, we go through. But Pirates and Sundowns are both teams capable of finding the net—keeping them at zero won’t be easy.”

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While being asked for his team's approach in the second leg after getting an away goal, the former Nantes coach claimed his team won't have a defensive mindset in their approach.

“If you go in just thinking about not conceding, you’re likely to concede. The goal is to win at home; if we do that, we go through. That’s our biggest advantage. Yes, the away goal rule helps, a 0-0 draw puts us through, but a 1-1 isn’t good enough, and a 2-2 puts us out. We know what we need to do.”

Reaction to Cardoso's view about Sundowns vs Pirates clash

Am_Xhosa wrote:

"I guess Chapions league has affected me so much that I'm not even interested to listen to coach. I know he said he is a "defensive coach" but he has to learn sometimes attack is defense. This thing yofuna uvala ucango emva qha😭. You would swear Morena isn't Sundowns player."

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Ghost77953055 said:

"No coach here. He is slowly destroying sundowns. Since when do we play low block?"

iso_mmino reacted:

"Why is it so hard for people to coach this team? Is it high expectations or dealing with the egos of stars? How did Pitso Mosimane do it? Why isn't that strategy implemented in their policy/philosophy?"

Jack Ningi commented:

"When I said he will be exposed this season, I was under attack from all corners. This guy so far rode on Rulani's work. If he is the real deal, we will know this season."

Tshiamo Motshabi added:

"Sundowns has never defended a 1-0 lead, what coaching is this 🤔"

Ex-Sundowns star joins Liverpool FC

Briefly News also reported that a former Mamelodi Sundowns star has joined Liverpool Futbol Club after leaving the PSL giants this summer.

The Pretoria giants decided to part ways with the player this summer, after failing to impress the club with his performance.

Source: Briefly News