Cardoso says Sundowns ‘deserved’ to win against Pirates

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso believes his side deserved to win against Orlando Pirates.

This comes after the Brazilians beat the Buccaneers 2-1 in an entertaining Betway Premiership match at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday evening.

READ MORE: León inspires Sundowns to key title race victory over Pirates

Colombian striker Brayan León bagged a brace for Sundowns in the first half, while Patrick Maswanganyi netted Pirates’ consolation goal just two minutes into the second half.

“I think that we knew from the start, it would be very interesting from Pirates, it’s a team that in the last match had scored in the beginning. So, there was belief they could score but we knew that we could catch them,” said Cardoso after the match.

“They do drop, and dropping the energy turns the match around. I think we could’ve finished this match in a much more comfortable position. The third goal is a big mistake from ourselves, but we don’t work on mistakes, we work to correct them, we don’t penalise no one, we leave them up.

“We stayed together with each other and had a fantastic performance, we played with heart, we also won this match with heart and we did it.”

Sundowns change focus to Galaxy

Cardoso believes the Brazilians were deserved winners based on what they “gave in the match”. Following the victory over Pirates, Sundowns will now turn their attention to the Nedbank Cup last 16 game against TS Galaxy on Saturday.

ALSO READ: ‘Nothing is lost’, says Pirates coach after loss to Sundowns

“I think high quality players that analyse direction and we did it. I think we deserved to win this game because of what we gave in the match. It’s normal, Pirates finish the game (season) at home with their supporters. Naturally, they will come for us but we just focus on the championship nothing more. Already, the match in the Nedbank Cup, let’s move on,” concluded Cardoso.