Miguel Cardoso hails Sundowns character in dramatic Arrows win

06.09.26 FT South African Betway Premiership

Lamontville Golden Arrows

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Mamelodi Sundowns FC

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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has hailed his team's character in their dramatic 2-1 win over Golden Arrows in the Betway Premiership at King Zwelithini Stadium over the weekend.

The Brazilians broke the deadlock in the 14th minute as Siyanda Ndlovu haunted his former side, before Sede Dion restored parity in the 76th minute, but Teboho Mokoena snatched the maximum points with his trademark finish two minutes from time.

Sundowns, as a result, leapfrogged defending champions Orlando Pirates into the summit of the table, much to the delight of Cardoso, who was pleased with the manner in which his troops dug deep for the three points.

“Obviously, I'm very happy with the character that we showed because sometimes when you suffer a goal like that you don't have the mental capacity to be resilient and fight for something,” said the Downs mentor.

"So, it means that the message, the character, and the attitude we are trying to build is strong, and no one can destroy an attitude, and that should be something that we have to state all the time.

"Obviously, it's not always going to happen that we score in the last minutes, but if we believe, it will happen more quickly or more frequently, and the team showed belief.

The Portuguese tactician, however, was unimpressed with his players' game management after scoring the go-ahead goal in the closing stages, swiftly flagging it as a key area of improvement.

“What I didn't like is that after we scored the 2-1 we still went to attack as if it was the last minute of the match and we were losing by two goals,” added Cardoso, who guided Sundowns to CAF Champions League glory last season.

"We must have the maturity in that moment to keep the ball, take the ball to the right places and finish the game with the few minutes that were remaining.

"But anyway, I hope the boys take the energy and they take the learning because there's learning to do from this match so that we can become stronger in the future.

The reigning African champions return to Betway Premiership action with a clash against Siwelele FC at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday, with the Bloemfontein-based outfit still in search of their first win of the 2026/27 campaign.

Hlayisani Magoro

Editorfr, en

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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