Miguel Cardoso makes Pirates admission after crucial win | OneFootball

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Cardoso gives honest Bucs verdict on the back of victory

Photo: Miguel Cardoso

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has made an honest admission about Betway Premiership title rivals Orlando Pirates after claiming their scalp on Wednesday.

The defending champions edged the Buccaneers 2-1 in a top-of-the-table clash, thanks to a first-half brace from striker Brayan Leon, while Patrick Maswanganyi scored for the hosts.

Sundowns narrowed the gap to three points behind the table-topping Pirates, who have picked up 38 points, having played one game more than Masandawana.

Though victorious on the night, Cardoso reserved special praise for Abdeslam Ouaddou's men, stating that the Sea Robbers are a stern opponent than Algerian champions, Rulani Mokwena's MC Alger.

“This team of Pirates is a high quality team, and I said to my assistant coaches that this team is stronger than MC Alger - very strong this team that's why they are making the championship they are doing, that's why today [Wednesday] was tough,” said the Downs mentor.

“This season in the 90 minutes played we had never beaten them but also we never lost. We lost on penalties as you know. But it's very tough to prepare this match. I think the players understood the message.

"They brought the strategy defensively that was important to control the width, to control the space in between lines, to drop their energy by having the ball, controlling the ambience in the stadium by having the ball and then aggressing them the way we had capacity in different moments.

While he acknowledges Bucs' formidability, the Portuguese tactician reiterated his stance that Pirates tend to adopt a different style of play when locking horns with Sundowns.

“I think the match we played was more or less what we predicted - strong start from Orlando Pirates in their typical style of play when they play against Sundowns - a little bit different from what we have been seeing in the last matches or in the matches that we analysed,” Cardoso added.

"But I expected a team with high quality, a lot of solutions in the front, a team that can aggress both inside and outside, so, quite difficult to control. But I think the strategy we had, the positioning on the pitch and the commitment towards that moment of the game, together with the quality of Ronwen [Williams] were obviously enough to cope with the moment.