Mamelodi Sundowns Secure Dramatic 2-1 Victory Over Golden Arrows
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso hailed his players’ resilience after they snatched a late 2-1 win over Golden Arrows in a breathless Betway Premiership clash at King Zwelithini Stadium.
For long spells it looked like two points dropped. Then Teboho Mokoena stepped up.
With two minutes left on the clock, the midfielder collected the ball on the edge of the box and drilled a fierce strike past the Arrows goalkeeper, ripping the contest away from the hosts and keeping Sundowns’ perfect start to the league season intact.
Earlier, new signing Siyanda Ndlovu had marked his arrival in style. The defender put the Brazilians in front in the first half, a composed finish capping a dominant early spell from the visitors. Arrows refused to fold, though, and Junior Dion dragged them level after the break to tilt the momentum and turn the final stages into a scrap.
The pressure finally told in Sundowns’ favour. Mokoena found space, found his range, and found three priceless points.
The result lifts the Tshwane giants to 16 points from six matches, three clear of Orlando Pirates at the top of the table. Pirates, though, still hold a game in hand, keeping the title race tight even at this early stage.
Cardoso, only too aware of how fragile leads can be in such high-tempo encounters, underlined the mental strength his side showed.
“I’m obviously happy with the character we’ve shown because sometimes if you concede a goal like that, you don’t have the mental capacity to be resilient and to fight for something,” he said.
“So it means that the message, the character and attitude we’re trying to build is strong. No one can destroy the attitude and that is something that we have to state all the time.
“It will not obviously happen every time that we score in the last minute but if we believe, it will happen more frequently and the team showed belief.”
Cardoso demands cooler heads
The win extends Sundowns’ run to four straight victories across all competitions, but Cardoso was not blinded by the drama of the late winner. His team is back on the field on Wednesday against Siwelele FC at Loftus Versfeld, and he wants sharper game management when the margins are just as fine.
Arrows pushed them all the way in a match played at a relentless pace, and the coach felt his players allowed the chaos to drag them in when calm was needed most.
“What I didn’t like is that after we scored the two one we still went to go attack like it was the last minute of the match and we were losing by two goals,” he said.
“But we needed to have the maturity at that point to manage the game and keep the ball in the right places to finish the game in the few minutes that were remaining. There’s obviously some learning to do from this match so that we can become stronger in the future.”
Three points in the bag, a late hero in Mokoena, a debut goal for Ndlovu and a coach demanding more. Sundowns sit top of the pile — now the question is whether they can match Cardoso’s call for maturity as the pressure of the title race tightens.
