Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says the Orlando Pirates squad is stronger than MC Alger, emphasising how much they had to dig deep to secure three points in their top of the table clash at FNB Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Sundowns ended Pirates 11 match winning run at home, which was a new record in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and swayed the momentum in the title race as they now trail Pirates by three points and have a game in hand.
It proved a massive result for Cardoso, following up from the 2-0 win over Algerian giants led by former Masandawana head coach Rulani Mokwena – and thus qualified for the quarter-final of the CAF Champions League.
“I heard this week that Sundowns always play the same way, sometimes things go well, sometimes things don’t go well, I come from a small village in Portugal, and my family is also very humble,” Cardoso said when asked by iDiski Times about their attacking variations.
“And that how we had to live in this game, because the game is like a victory by car, sometimes you climb moutains, sometimes you go down, we worked a lot in terms of approaching the game, we brought different things, and challenges of how teams play.
“This team of Pirates is high quality, I believe they are stronger than MC Alger, very strong, very very strong, that’s why they are competiing in the league this way they are doing, that’s why today was very tough.
“This is way this season, in 90 minutes played we never had beaten them but also never lost, we lost in penalties as you know. It was tough, very tough to prepare for this match.”
Sundowns could move to the summit of the table if they win their game in hand against AmaZulu as they continue their pursuit of a ninth successive league title.
