Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso wants to drive home the advantage against ES Tunis in Pretoria after their 1-0 victory at the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium in the first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-finals on Sunday.
Brayan Leon’s 51st-minute goal gave the Brazilians the upper hand in the tie, although they finished the game with 10 men after Grant Kekana received a straight red card on 84 minutes.
Bafana Ba Style are now on the verge of reaching back-to-back finals under Cardoso, who also took the Blood and Gold to the 2023-24 decider against Al Ahly.
However, the Portuguese tactician insists the job is not yet done and has called for his team to approach the second leg at Loftus Versfeld on April 18 with more determination to deny the Tunisian champions a way back.
“We played against a very strong team. I think we did well to understand the different moments of the game, the moments in which we played,” Cardoso said.
“I think in the first half we played much more with the ball. It brings us closer to the way we want to play. We needed to make some corrections in the second half.
“I think it was important to do that. We weren’t too far, but we didn’t play the way we wanted to play. We came on very well.
“We scored an important goal. Of course, we had to expect a reaction from a team like Esperance. For us, it was important to continue to look for an opportunity to get to the box.
“But I think, as I said yesterday, the approach in the first half must be even stronger, even more concentrated, even more determined in terms of application and the tactical approach, so that we can take advantage of the result here and, of course, not go to the second match thinking that the work is done, because it’s not done, of course.”
