TRYING his best to not direct his statement to the referees after his team drew 1-1 against Lamontville Golden Arrows on Wednesday night, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso made it clear that he felt that they were robbed of a victory and the three points.
Goals by Keenan Phillips, a header at the end of a Sbonelo Cele free-kick delivery, and a penalty by Lucas Ribeiro Costa, saw the sides not only go to halftime level, but also share the spoils in front of an energetic crowd in the Premiership encounter at Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale.
#Panenka slowly becoming the merger of star penalties as #Ribeiro pulls another one against Watenga to get Sundowns level with Arrows at half time.
— Malibongwe Mdletshe (@Malbingo) March 5, 2025
That result put a full stop on Sundowns’ 11-game winning streak in all competitions.
Arrows themselves had received a 4-0 thrashing somewhere within those 11 matches, but Wednesday night was a different one, with former Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi leading their dug-out.
With regards to the Sundowns coach’s frustrations, Cardoso would have been referring to the three goals which his side scored and were disallowed, and at least two of those could have stood on another day.
— Malibongwe Mdletshe (@Malbingo) March 6, 2025
“I should congratulate my players for making a very good second half. But they did not do well in the first half. I think it would have been more than fair that today (Wednesday), we got all three points,” cried Cardoso in the post-match interview.
“We scored more than enough goals to win the match, as it was clear for everyone, for sure. We saw two teams working hard. We saw one team that was not on the level of the game.”
It's so heartbreaking to see our coach like this because of @SAFA_net referees who won't even be punished for what they did tonight against Mamelodi Sundowns 💔 pic.twitter.com/ANDvtAFg45
— Sundowns Online Branch (@MSFC__) March 5, 2025
Indeed as Cardoso said, the Brazilians did score three more goals (one by Peter Shalulile in each half, and another by Ribeiro later in the second half).
Shalulile’s first-half goal was not given, with referee Tshidiso Mkwanazi judging a foul in the build-up.
Early in the second half, Shalulile was again misjudged to be offside, having beaten the Arrows defence and goalkeeper Isima Watenga not playing to the whistle to concede a goal.
The third disallowed goal was, though, right to not be given, with Thapelo Morena clearly fouling an Arrows player in his goal assist.
“It is important to understand that the level of the league like this should also be on the level when it comes to other things. Unfortunately today, we saw things that I don’t even want to talk about,” said Cardoso, who was recently rewarded as the PSL Coach of the Month.
“It is the second game, (in fact) there are two games in which...” and the coach decided to stop right there with voicing his unhappiness.
“Congratulations to my players in terms of fighting in the second half to get all three points. Unfortunately, we did not get it. We look forward to doing our best in the next matches.
“We just want to play the games as fair as they should be, according to the rules of the game. Everybody should follow the rules of the game. It’s just what we want. Let us play football!”
Probed if he was directing his statement to the refereeing calls as he had been some two weeks ago, Cardoso responded: “No, no, I’m just speaking. I’m just speaking.”
Two weeks ago, Cardoso was specific in saying that referees are so quick to issue cards to his players.
Although he did not want to mention refereeing, in the earlier post-match interview on SuperSport TV, the Portuguese mentor made it clear that he was unhappy with “some decisions that did not go our way” as they “scored four goals to win the match”.