It looked like Sundowns were headed for a defeat as Maniema held on after scoring in the first half, but substitute Peter Shalulile scored late in the second half to level matters at Stade des Martyrs on Saturday before forcing defender Exaucia Moanda to net an own-goal.
The result left Sundowns second in their group with eight points, one behind leaders AS FAR, who they host their final match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday where they must avoid a defeat to advance to the knockout stage.
“I believe in my players. I told them at half-time that they had to play for one goal. We didn't need to play for two because that would give us high emotions,” Cardoso explained to the media after the match.
“I knew one would give us the energy to keep fighting for the second one. I told them to believe in the first goal because it would make a difference.
“Even a draw would have been better to lead us to the next game. One goal would also increase the level of stress on the opponent.”
Japhte Kitambala had given the host a lead in the first half and Sundowns struggled to break their defence.
Cardoso felt his side deserved to walk away with a victory.
“I think we were penalised by the score at half-time, it's difficult to play here and it's obvious by the results Maniema [achieved], they don't suffer many goals here. It's a team that you can have possession against but they always find a way out of the press due to their direct style of football,” he said.
“Sometimes it's difficult to cope with that, but we play our style and we create our moments. We did that and if we analysed what we did in the first half it was important to keep the emotions and try to increase the level of pace inside the pitch in terms of players in front creating moments.”
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I told them to play for one goal – Cardoso explains how Downs defeated Maniema
Image: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
After their smash-and-grab 2-1 victory against AS Maniema in the CAF Champions League Group B match, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has lauded his players' fighting spirit after they came from a goal down to win the game.
It looked like Sundowns were headed for a defeat as Maniema held on after scoring in the first half, but substitute Peter Shalulile scored late in the second half to level matters at Stade des Martyrs on Saturday before forcing defender Exaucia Moanda to net an own-goal.
The result left Sundowns second in their group with eight points, one behind leaders AS FAR, who they host their final match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday where they must avoid a defeat to advance to the knockout stage.
“I believe in my players. I told them at half-time that they had to play for one goal. We didn't need to play for two because that would give us high emotions,” Cardoso explained to the media after the match.
“I knew one would give us the energy to keep fighting for the second one. I told them to believe in the first goal because it would make a difference.
“Even a draw would have been better to lead us to the next game. One goal would also increase the level of stress on the opponent.”
Japhte Kitambala had given the host a lead in the first half and Sundowns struggled to break their defence.
Cardoso felt his side deserved to walk away with a victory.
“I think we were penalised by the score at half-time, it's difficult to play here and it's obvious by the results Maniema [achieved], they don't suffer many goals here. It's a team that you can have possession against but they always find a way out of the press due to their direct style of football,” he said.
“Sometimes it's difficult to cope with that, but we play our style and we create our moments. We did that and if we analysed what we did in the first half it was important to keep the emotions and try to increase the level of pace inside the pitch in terms of players in front creating moments.”
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