Cardoso: We Are Receiving Cheap Red Cards
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has once again come to the defense of his side after the Brazilians picked up a seventh red card under his watchful eye in their 3-1 win over Marumo Gallants in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday.
The defending champions came from a goal behind to secure maximum points in Bloemfontein thanks to goals from Marcelo Allende, Lucas Ribeiro, and Iqraam Rayners. However, the victory was marred by yet another sending-off for Sundowns.
Veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango, who was minding the goalposts in the absence of Ronwen Willams, was given his second marching orders of the season in the latter stages of the match after preventing a clear goal-scoring opportunity from Gabadinho Mhango.
Overall, the Tshwane giants have received nine red cards across all competitions this season and Cardoso believes the cards are easily brandished against Sundowns compared to the other teams in the division.
“We played a wonderful game but the way it finished was not the best way in terms of having to deal with a red card. I think the cards are too easy to be given to our players and I don’t want to speak [about it], it has nothing to do with Marumo Gallants,” he said.
“It has to do in general, teams that play against Sundowns always find a way to stop the game, to deal with moments that we are strong, that we are managing aggressivity, that we are close to finding a goal.
“And that happened again [vs Gallants], but it’s a way to manage the game and nothing to say. But the question is, in those moments I never saw players receiving yellow cards for wasting time and we saw Denis [receiving a yellow card on] his first time kicking the ball to the front.”
The Downs mentor added: “So, I think red cards for Sundowns are becoming very cheap, they are coming out very easily.”
However, the 52-year-old Portuguese tactician was impressed by the way his charges dealt with the pressure of being a man down with crucial three points to protect, stating that they completed the task with much more ease than he anticipated.
“I think they coped very well with the situation because we had no more substitutions to do, so we had to find a solution. Thapelo [Morena] was the player that decided to put on the gloves because he had experienced that already,” Cardoso continued.
“It was an important six minutes to manage, basically it was to have the ball as much as possible. The most difficult situation we had to deal with was the free kick but thank God that the ball was not on target.
“And it was simple to manage the game because our players have the quality to keep the ball as much as possible and to deal with one or two counterattacks. I think it was not as difficult as it could have been.”
Masandawana have extended their gap to 12 points at the top of the log standings as they gear up for a visit from TS Galaxy in their next league outing at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.
Meanwhile, with 33 points, Pirates saw their clash against Golden Arrows postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
