Miguel Cardoso impressed with Mamelodi Sundowns players' commitment after narrow win over Stellenbosch FC as Steve Barker disappointed in Stellies for failing to take chances

Mamelodi Sundowns moved up three points ahead in the Premier Soccer League standings following a hard-fought 1-0 win against Stellenbosch FC at the DHL Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Former Stellies star Iqraam Rayners netted the match's only goal early on to ensure that the Brazilians leave with all three points.

Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso, who has now won two out of two games since his appointment, and Stellies manager Steve Barker, reacted to the match's outcome.

"I think it's very important that everybody understands how difficult it is to play here against a very aggressive team in terms of the way they play, always looking for a long ball, not trying to build up the game, so quite difficult to press," Cardoso told SuperSport TV. 

"I think we managed in the first 30 minutes of the game we were quite confident to press high, obviously it's difficult to keep that intensity. We created many chances, I think the story of this game is the second goal that never appeared and should have appeared in the game.

"We created so much but in the end we held onto the result. Important victory, congratulations to the players, fans, very happy for the work," he added. 

"We could have probably gained a comfortable lead at halftime, it's normal the reaction of the opponent in the second half. We cannot forget what kind of game we played on Sunday and how many players we didn't have today." 

"So I'm really happy because the guys are giving the answer, even the ones not playing that much, makes me believe in the work. It makes us look forward," said the 52-year-old mentor. 

"It's clear there's a big commitment in the team, play in short distances, try to always be together, travel together in attack, travel together in defence, close the spaces, control different moments. 

"Let's always hold our emotions as best as possible so that we can always be looking at the right moment to finish the game. Today I believe we could have finished it much sooner rather than the final whistle of the referee."

"A classic case of maybe a match of two halves. I thought first-half we weren't really at the races, arguably they could've got an extra goal and went to half-time with a two-goal lead," Barker admitted after the match. 

"However, we hung in there and probably did well to keep it at 1-0. But in the second half, there was only one team that looked like scoring, so disappointed we couldn't take one of our chances.

"We created all the play, a lot of momentum, a lot of belief, more confidence in the second half and asked them a lot of questions and Denis Onyango made some big saves." 

"Disappointed that we weren't able to get at least a point from the game but again proud of the effort in the second half, the comeback to get ourselves back into the game," Barker went on.

"I can't fault the players for the effort in the second half, especially the first half. There were one or two little errors, and our execution may have let us down a bit. So, I'm overall disappointed that we couldn't salvage a point.

"A couple of fresh legs had an impact on the game, obviously we've been travelling quite a bit, we only arrived on Monday from Angola, it was a short turnaround," he added. 

"Andre de Jong was unlucky not to get the header, Jayden Adams overhit a pass, otherwise it's a tap-in. Just really disappointed we weren't able to take one of those chances." 

Stellenbosch will now play against in-form SuperSport United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday, December 28 in a PSL match.

Conversely, Sundowns will head to Durban to face off against a strong AmaZulu team this upcoming Tuesday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.