Miguel Cardoso backs misfiring Lebo Mothiba after Arrows MTN8 defeat

23.08.26 FT MTN 8 Cup South Africa

Mamelodi Sundowns FC

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Lamontville Golden Arrows

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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has backed misfiring striker Lebo Mothiba to find his scoring boots following their shock defeat to Golden Arrows in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final over the weekend.

The 30-year-old centre-forward squandered several clear-cut scoring opportunities in the first-half , before Junior Sede Dion made the Brazilians rue their missed chances on the stroke of halftime.

With Mothiba's last goal for Sundowns dating back to December 2025 in a one-all draw with Siwelele FC, the Portuguese tactician has thrown his weight behind the player to end his goal drought.

“As a coach I'm trying to make my best for all the players, the coaching staff works very hard in showing belief to the players,” said Cardoso when pressed about giving Mothiba the nod to lead the line against Arrows.

"And you saw how I supported him in the moment that was difficult because he missed indeed a situation where it could have been a goal. But it was not the only one, there were many throughout the match that didn't happen to be goals.

"I remember two years ago when Lucas Ribeiro was not scoring goals and you [media] were always speaking about how he could not score and I said one day the goals will come out and it will be one after the other and it happened. It's a little bit like that with strikers.

Cardoso went on to justify his team selection in the shock cup defeat, stating the the fatigue endured by first-choice goal poacher Brayan Leon was the driving force behind starting Mothiba.

“Lebo has not been the first option as you know. Brayan together with Iqraam [Rayners] were the first options. So, it's normal when a player doesn't play so consistently that it's difficult to pick up the rhythm in a match,” he added.

"Lebo is showing character, he made very good training matches and scoring in them, so he gave us all the energy and as you may understand Brayan also came from a pre-season where he didn't have the chance to train consistently.

"And we played three matches in a row, so it was absolutely normal that we had to rotate that player because Brayan was too tired, I think he was still too tired in the second half, not as fresh as we would like to have him.

"The rotation had to do with that, just finding 45 minutes in each of them that could give intensity, that's what we looked for.

Sundowns will swing back to action with a Betway Premiership clash against AmaZulu FC at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday, 26 August, before traveling to KwaZulu-Natal for the return leg against Abafana Bes'thende.

Hlayisani Magoro

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Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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