Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso made an honest admission following his side’s comeback victory over AS Maniema in the CAF Champions League.
The Brazilians secured a late 2-1 win over DR Congo side, having trailed for 83 minutes.
Peter Shalulile sparked the comeback as he scored the first goal and forced an own goal in the 96th minute, accumulating maximum points for the Tshwane giants away from home.
Cardoso stated that they initially approached the game with their usual playing style. He says the opponents posed a significant threat through their aggressive and direct approach.
“You can have possession against them, but they always find a way to aggress you, because it’s a very straight and direct football,” said Cardoso after the match.
“Sometimes it’s very difficult to cope with that. But we knew that we had to play our style. It was by imposing our style that we could create our moments.
“I think that halftime gave us a result completely unfair if we analyze what we did in the first half. It was important that we could keep the emotions and try to increase the level of aggressivity inside the pitch in terms of putting players in the front that could create a moment.”
CARDOSO ADMITS THEY GAVE UP THEIR STYLE OF PLAY TO GET GOALS
Cardoso admitted that they deviated from Sundowns’ customary style of play to get the late goals, which were scored through long passes.
“We broke a little bit our way of playing, because we were not connected in the first half and during the second half.
“But we could become more dangerous from any moment, because we knew that [long] balls could create moments for us. Not always by the right way, but with the right intention and intentionality and the right spirit, we fight it. And we were rewarded.
“I think we are clearly the better team that deserved to win, because of the work that our boys did in the full period of the match.”
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