Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso revealed he was not happy with the team at halftime of their clash against Chippa United.
Having drawn first blood through Arthur Sales, the reigning champions were pegged back by Khaya Mfecane late in the second half as the encounter ended 1-1.
The inability to take control from the first to the last minute haunted the Tshwane giants, as the Chilli Boys came fired up under their new man Sinethemba Badela.
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“The outcome obviously isn’t the best. So, we have to say we didn’t start well and I think we really didn’t start well the match,” Cardoso told SuperSport TV.
“When we play against these kind of teams, you have to have the best strategy inside the pitch to take the game forward. What we control, control the possession and the ability to play in the spaces.
“It seems we didn’t put the proper intensity to escape from the duels so we made of the first half a more physical game rather than a game the way we have to play it. So, even winning at halftime we were not happy.
“I think we started better second half, but pretty quickly not keep and suffered a goal out of nothing what brought the energy Chippa was looking for and from then on.
“I think everybody saw a lot of players falling on the ground so quite difficult to keep the pace. We are penalised by what we didn’t do in the first half,” he added.
Before resuming for the second half, the Brazilians introduced Zuko Mdunyelwa in place of new arrival Fawaaz Basadien to provide more width out right.
“No, we needed more width, Zuko we knew he couldn’t play the whole game but knew he could play 45 so it was a necessary substitution to give more depth and width on the right."
Photo by Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images
