Having ended the first half goalless, whatever Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said to his troops at the interval certainly worked as the champions ran out 2-0 victors in their Betway Premiership clash against AmaZulu in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Peter Shalulile opened the scoring in the 51st minute, before Arthur Sales sealed the result with his side’s second three minutes before time.
Overall, Sundowns were completely dominant with 16 shots to the six of their opponents.
The hosts also enjoyed the lion’s share of possession with 65% of the ball.
Cardoso on how he turned things around for Sundowns
“In the first half, the game was very narrow, with a little bit of mental freshness. Eventually, we were not using the width of the pitch in the right way,” Cardoso told SuperSport after the game when asked what he changed at half-time.
“We had to do something to bring extra energy. Well, sometimes things work out well, sometimes they don’t, but today they did. I think it’s deserved that we win the match, and in the second half, we bought another energy.
“Then it was to cope with the moments. We understood that we needed to cope with the players that were more tired in order to keep the team up and alive, so congratulations to the boys.”
Sundowns are now 18 points ahead of Orlando Pirates. Though Pirates have four games in hand, it will be a massive challenge to reel in Sundowns.
Cardoso was also pleased with Keanu Cupido, who is making a return from injury.
“We’re trying to manage [Cupido] game by game. We know that in the championship, if you don’t play at the top, you can have a better flavour.
“So, it’s important that we put our best every time and manage the players that we can and give everything and believe in everybody. I’m happy today to see Keanu entering the match because he came from injury, so he deserves also this moment, but in general, now let’s speak about the next one.”
@Michael_Sherman
Sport
