Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has explained the decision behind the first half substitution of Spehlele Mkhulise during his team’s 4-0 win over Golden Arrows on Sunday.
Mkhulise came off in the 36th minute when Sundowns were struggling to enforce themselves on Arrows with Peter Shalulile replacing him and the substitution worked wonders.
Shalulile won the penalty for the first goal before scoring two more with Teboho Mokoena completing the rout.
Cardoso defends early sub
Cardoso admits it was tough on Mkhulise to leave before the break but says the substation was necessary as Arrow’s approach destabilised his game plan, forcing him into quick changes to tame them.
“Any moment a player goes out, or the moment the player goes it doesn’t mean that he was bad in the match,” Cardoso told iDiski Times.
“It’s a tactical approach, and the values of the team should be much stronger than individual values, that’s how I approach things.
“Obviously at half-time I told Pitso, ‘look Pitso, you came out not because you played bad but we needed to approach the game in a different way’.
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“Because if I knew that the approach of the opponent would’ve been the way it was on the pitch, probably I would’ve started in a different way. So, nothing on the work of Pitso, it was a decision.”
The tactician will be thankful that the changes yielded the much-needed three points which saw them restore their six-point lead against Orlando Pirates at the top of the table.
Sundowns occupy top spot with 36 points from 13 games while Pirates have 30 from 12 games and the two sides will face off on Saturday February 8 after the Brazilians have played the Tshwane derby against SuperSport United on Wednesday February 5.
