Mamelodi Sundowns may have scored seven goals in a chaotic 7-4 victory over Siwelele at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium, but head coach Miguel Cardoso was left fuming over his side’s defensive lapses. The match unfolded like a video game scoreline, with Sundowns attacking relentlessly yet unable to shake a resilient Siwelele side that kept finding a way back into the contest. Brayan León bagged a hat-trick, Tashreeq Matthews scored twice, and Teboho Mokoena added a strike, while an own goal from Nyiko Mobbie completed the tally, but Cardoso was far from satisfied.
Despite the avalanche of goals, Cardoso expressed clear frustration with his team’s defensive performance, warning that conceding four goals undermines what should have been a dominant display. “I understood the energy of the boys inside the pitch was to score and score, but really to achieve a result in a match like this, that could give us seven, eight, nine goals, you cannot suffer four,” he told SuperSport TV. He admitted his players became obsessed with attacking, leaving the defence exposed and struggling to maintain balance, and stressed that a win by a narrow margin like this feels no different from a standard 3-0 or 4-0 victory.
Cardoso also opened up about the mounting physical toll on his squad as the season reaches its climax, with multiple players carrying injuries and fatigue from the CAF Champions League semi-final against Esperance. He revealed that Tashreeq Matthews is playing on “a thin wire on his legs,” while Brayan León and others are managing muscle issues and lingering concerns. Despite the chaos, Sundowns need just one more victory to seal the Betway Premiership title, but Cardoso made it clear the club is battling against the calendar, injuries, and even the perception of fans watching from home.