Themba Zwane who exited the match against Pirates at Orlando Stadium.
Miguel Cardoso, the head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns, has praised Peter Shalulile for matching Siyabonga Nomvethe’s PSL record of 129 goals after the team secured a 2-0 victory against Magesi FC in a Betway Premiership match at Seshego Stadium on Wednesday night.
Late second-half goals from Jayden Adams and Shalulile led to a hard-fought win for the Brazilians.
This match marked Shalulile’s first start of the season following speculation about his future in recent weeks. He has recently rejoined the team after a period of uncertainty.
Since joining Sundowns in 2020, the Namibian forward has scored 102 goals, with 27 of those goals coming during his time at Highlands Park.
“Obviously, when players achieve their own objective and make history, we as the team help them to achieve it, we all feel proud and happy,” said Cardoso regarding Shalulile, also discussing the match.
“You saw that I went to him to congratulate him and gave him a hug. It’s important that Peter helps us win matches. Peter and the team did a wonderful job today. They were very resilient because it was a difficult match. We knew it would be closer to the second half where we would have a chance to finish the game.”
In addition, Cardoso elaborated on his choice to implement several changes prior to Saturday’s second leg of the MTN8 semi-final against Orlando Pirates at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
He provided an update on influential captain Themba Zwane, who was injured during the match against Pirates at Orlando Stadium, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
“We need to manage all the situations that we have. There are issues that come from the previous match that forced me to keep some players out,” he said.
“Obviously, we’re only on just 20 training sessions in three weeks, so we’re in pre-season, but competing at the highest level. So we need to manage them because players are still not capable of recovering in four days.
“With the intensity that we played with on Saturday, I have to respect the condition of the players. Unfortunately, Themba will be out for probably two months but I believe he will come back stronger and expect him to recover as quickly as possible.”
