Miguel Cardoso bemoans missed chances after Nedbank Cup exit | OneFootball

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Cardoso laments lack of cutting edge in Galaxy defeat

Photo: Miguel Cardoso

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has bemoaned the missed chances following their exit in the Nedbank Cup Round of 16 at the hands of TS Galaxy on Saturday.

The Tshwane giants fell to first half goals from debutant Sphamandla Ngwenya and Junior Zindoga, as the Rockets secured a 2-0 victory.

Reflecting on the match, the Downs mentor was left unimpressed with the manner in which his team conceded the goals, citing lapse in concentration.

“The game is clear to be analysed and to be spoken about - you don't convert the chances you had and you let yourself to make mistakes in order to be 2-0 down in a match that is played obviously in conditions that are also difficult to cope with," said Cardoso.

"But mostly the lack of concentration on those mistakes that put you in a situation that is also difficult to recover from. There's not much more to comment, we can complain on the goals we didn't score, we needed as quick as possible to make it 2-1 - one goal that would bring the energy to keep on going.

"We could have done it before halftime even. I remember two situations we could not convert. And then the second half is to seek for one goal, we totally controlled the match, obviously here and there we exposed ourselves to the transitions but that's the risk a team needs to take when it's losing 2-0. But what remains in my head is the way we suffered the two goals and we let ourselves go down on a match like this, that is absolutely difficult to cope with.

Cardoso stressed that the lack of cutting edge was the ultimate downfall for his side, and suggested the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium pitch restricted his side from playing quality football.

“2-0 is not the same as 1-0, it's a very difficult place to be, especially, I repeat, in a pitch where you cannot play the football you want to play because it's very difficult to play quality football here. So, the conditions were even more difficult to come from,” he added.

"But it was ourselves that could not convert our chances, I think I pointed four or five unbelievable chances that we had to score. I remember Tashreeq [Matthews] in the second half, I remember one from Brayan [Leon], I remember one from Peter [Shalulile] - few shots. I remember two in the first half that were clear chances.

"And that is the turning point we needed to look for. I was confident that we would find that turning point - that goal that could give the energy to go for the second one, put the pressure on the other side, create some panic, light the fire in the stadium which could also help keep the energy on our side. It didn't happen and because of that, obviously we are penalised and not much more to say.