Mamelodi Sundowns romped to their eighth league title in a row as they dispatched Chippa United 3-0 in their Betway Premiership clash in East London on Wednesday, and Brazilian coach Miguel Cardoso unsurprisingly showered his troops with praise.
Sundowns clinched the title in fine style with Iqraam Rayners opening the scoring in East London, before Arthur Sales added a brace in the second half to seal the emphatic result which served as an exclamation mark of their domination this season.
In fact, the last time Sundowns didn’t win the league was as far back as the 2016/2017 season when (now defunct) Bidvest Wits triumphed.
The win moved Sundowns to 70 points, with the most that second-placed Orlando Pirates, with their three games in hand, can reach being 67 points.
Cardoso Reflects on Team’s Determination and Belief After Securing Eighth Consecutive Title
“It was challenging, but very beautiful. I said to them it will be very hard, but it will be very beautiful. We needed to believe in the work every day when you work with a group of players of these characters it’s not easy,” Cardoso told SuperSport after the game.
“Obviously, we knew that there was a new proposal, new ideas, changing a lot, but we believe a lot in ourselves.”
Cardoso said his side always had the confidence to go for an unprecedented eighth title in a row.
“When you believe in ourselves, we made them also believe in them and it was important to conquer the hearts, minds because [that’s where] football appears.”
It was not all sunshine and rainbows though, as Cardoso made a thinly-veiled reference to the two Soweto Derbies, including the Nedbank Cup final, over the last two weeks which captured all of SA football’s attention.
@Michael_Sherman
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