Sundowns edge Golden Arrows to reach Carling knockout semi-finals - EWN

Mamelodi Sundowns booked their place in the Carling Knockout Cup semi-finals after beating Golden Arrows 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night.

A second-half strike from Iqraam Rayners proved decisive as the Brazilians secured victory over Abafana Bes’thende in a repeat of their MTN8 encounter.

The result sees Sundowns continue their pursuit of silverware under head coach Miguel Cardoso, who was pleased with his team’s discipline and ability to execute the tactical plan.

Speaking after the match, Cardoso revealed that Sundowns had opportunities to take an early lead, creating two clear chances within the opening five minutes.

“I think we had two clear chances to score a goal. But what was interesting to see is that the team didn’t escape from the plan. They were focused enough to keep on playing as we wanted.”

The Portuguese coach explained that Golden Arrows’ compact defensive structure made it difficult for Sundowns to penetrate through the middle, forcing his side to use the width of the pitch.

“It’s important to take the ball out wide, left and right, to move them and try to find spaces. It’s a team that closes the centre of the pitch, so it’s quite difficult to enter and penetrate through the middle.”