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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says they played in patches against Esperance de Tunis in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night, but the 1-0 win proved enough.
Peter Shalulile secured victory with the only goal of the game late in the second half of what was a fairly guarded approach from both sides in the first leg of the continental tournament at Loftus Stadium.
Esperance were deep in their own half for most of the encounter even when their defense was breached.
Cardoso highlights that there were no surprises.
''Not much away from what we had expected in terms of the approach Esperance had on the game. We knew that something similar would happen, we predicted that Belaili could play as a nine and change positions with the other forwards. And playing from the back would allow us to explore spaces. But the opponents had a responsibility to not allow us to play our normal game, and we were not clever enough to shift at the right time,'' said Cardoso.
Sundowns will now face Esperance in Tunis next Tuesday and Cardoso believes their rivals are likely to be more aggressive.
''My job is to make the players believe that this is a match just like other matches. So eleven players have to play football, they have the strength, they believe in the Champions League, they have won the Champions League. They know what to expect and we know what we can do,'' added Cardoso.
As expected following the narrow defeat, the visiting coach Maher Kanzari – speaking through a translator – is confident the tie is far from over.
''As I mentioned yesterday, there's two legs in a match - first half they came through but in the second we saw our players wanting to attack more trying to win the game,'' said Kanzari.
Kanzari adds that the conservative approach at Loftus was due to a few of the Esperance attackers not being available, but they will make a major difference in the second leg upon their return.
