Miguel Cardoso pulled two starters at half-time against Marumo Gallants, and the Mamelodi Sundowns coach says he had no choice.

Thabo Cele and Fawaaz Basadien were withdrawn at the break after both picked up yellow cards in the first half. With the Brazilians chasing a quarterfinal place, Cardoso refused to gamble.

“I made two subs because both players had yellow cards, and you cannot play a knockout match with ten players on the pitch,” he said.

“I didn’t want to play any risks on this match. I knew very well the importance of this match.”

The stakes were high. Sundowns were knocked out of this competition by Gallants last year, and losing to the same opponent twice would have piled more pain on a week already scarred by the Champions League shock defeat to Wiliete SC.

Siyanda Ndlovu settled it with a superb 20th-minute strike from a tight angle, set up by Iqraam Rayners. Aubrey Modiba and Marcelo Allende replaced the booked pair, but the changes and a mix of non-regular starters disrupted the team’s usual flow after the break. Goalkeeper Ricardo Goss had to make a key save before the hour mark.

Cardoso blamed the emotional hangover from the African heartbreak.

“It came mostly from the emotional moment,” he said. “Just who experienced can imagine what we lived in the last two, three days. And just with the right approach from everybody together, we could obviously arrive today and still play to win.”

He refused to single anyone out, but praised the fight in the squad.

“I don’t want to individualise too much the performance because I don’t want to penalise no one, as I also don’t want or need to highlight extremely no one. I think what was important today was that the team stuck together and fought together to achieve an important victory.”

The quarterfinal draw is on Wednesday after the Durban City and Stellenbosch FC game.

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