Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has spoken about Lucas Ribeiro’s dip in form of late as the Brazilian talisman is on a run of seven games across all competitions without finding the back of the net.

The 26-year-old forward last registered his name on the score sheet at the beginning of March in a 1-1 draw against Golden Arrows in the Betway Premiership, before making his last contribution up to date with an assist against AmaZulu in the subsequent match.

Now, the player that is heavily tipped to clinch the 2024/25 PSL Footballer of the season accolade has been struggling in front of goals, and the Downs mentor outlined the reason behind Ribeiro’s decline at a crucial stage of the campaign.

“I totally understand the question and I think it’s important to comment because after Lucas [Ribeiro] made the goal, the matches he made against [Orlando] Pirates and then against [Kaizer] Chiefs – after that it was clear that all the teams worried so much about him by closing him with two to three players over him, it made his job much more difficult,” Cardoso said.

“And because of that, we don’t see him so free on the pitch. What is important is that the team understands that when there are two or three players over him, there are other spaces on the pitch that should be used, and we should relate to that.

“And also himself, he should understand that if he receives so much pressure, he should release the ball and let the other ones play, so that then he can position himself to find the spaces and play.”

However, Cardoso believes the player will eventually end his goal rut, given that he’s a quality player with a lot of attacking threat. Furthermore, the Portuguese tactician insists Ribeiro will find his goal-scoring boots naturally.

“Lucas and other players we have in the team are players that can make a difference, what I’m always telling them is that these players in decisive moments should inspire themselves and bring to the pitch the individuality that they can in order to put it on the service of the team of course,” he added.

“I think Lucas will be like ketchup, you know, when you pick ketchup, and you start asking [by hitting the bottle] then suddenly boof! It comes a lot, more than it’s supposed to come. I think it will happen naturally with Lucas because he’s working normally.

“So, I just hope he can be stable enough to make that moment arrive, and football is exactly like that, and as you said, it’s important that we can move forward.”

Ribeiro has so far scored 16 goals and provided 11 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions this term and will be determined to end his goal drought when Sundowns lock horns with Al Ahly on Friday in the return fixture of their CAF Champions League semi-final clash after a goalless first leg.