Teen star punishes Sundowns, Cardoso questions line-up

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso have themselves to blame for the shock 2-0 loss to TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup last 16 battle at the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium on Saturday, 21 February.

The Rockets’ debutant teenager Sphamandla Ngwenya handed Galaxy the breakthrough before experienced Zimbabwean striker Junior Zindonga doubled the lead from the penalty spot.

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MIGUEL CARDOSO QUESTIONS HIS PLAYERS

The Portuguese raised eyebrows by making 10 changes following the midweek win over Orlando Pirates, a decision that came under scrutiny after the final whistle.

After the defeat, Cardoso did not hide his frustration. “And today it’s unbelievable how you again give this ball inside for the goal, and then you suffer a penalty that’s also completely avoidable,” Cardoso told SuperSport TV. “Story of the game is exactly that, ourselves losing 2-0 and had to recover from that result.

“And we did create four very good chances, we don’t score, if we had scored one goal it would’ve been completely different. We can only complain ourselves, there’s not much more to say,” the Sundowns mentor added.

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Cardoso continued by saying that the goals Sundowns conceded were linked to his line-up, pointing out that individual mistakes cannot happen at this level, and emphasising the need for players to rest and reflect on who is capable of performing in such matches.

“Because we cannot make those mistakes, it means everything is wrong, it’s not just evaluation that we need to do, we need to go beyond that, but we also need to understand who deserves these opportunities that we’re giving them,” he concluded.

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