South Africa: Cardoso Says Sundowns 'Won This Match With Heart' Against Pirates

By Dylan Bettencourt

Colombian striker Brayan León scored twice in the first half to put Sundowns in control at FNB Stadium.

Patrick Maswanganyi pulled one back for Orlando Pirates two minutes after half-time but Sundowns held on to win.

Mamelodi Sundowns beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 in the Betway Premiership at FNB Stadium on Wednesday, and coach Miguel Cardoso says his side earned every point.

Colombian striker Brayan León scored twice in the first half to give Sundowns a comfortable lead. Patrick Maswanganyi pulled one back for Pirates just two minutes after the break, but it was not enough to change the result.

Cardoso said he had expected Pirates to come out hard from the start.

"It's a team that in the last match had scored in the beginning. So, there was belief they could score, but we knew that we could catch them," he said.

The Sundowns coach felt his side let Pirates back into a game they should have already won.

"We could've finished this match in a much more comfortable position. The third goal is a big mistake from ourselves, but we don't work on mistakes, we work to correct them," he said.

Cardoso praised his players for sticking together when Pirates pushed back.

"We stayed together with each other and had a fantastic performance. We played with heart, we also won this match with heart and we did it," he said.

Sundowns now shift their focus to a Nedbank Cup last 16 clash against TS Galaxy on Saturday.

"I think we deserved to win this game because of what we gave in the match. Already, the match in the Nedbank Cup, let's move on," Cardoso said.

Read the original article on Scrolla.

Copyright © 2026 Scrolla. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.