Sundowns are keeping the champagne on ice for now

Mamelodi Sundowns are on the verge of securing a record-extending eighth consecutive Betway Premiership title, but head coach Miguel Cardoso has voiced his frustration over how the title race is unfolding.

The Brazilians currently sit on 64 points after 25 league matches. They lead second-placed Orlando Pirates by 12 points, but the Buccaneers have two games in hand. 

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Sundowns can all but seal the title with a victory over Stellenbosch FC on Sunday, which would take them to 67 points. The Buccaneers can still reach the same tally if they win all five of their remaining fixtures.

“We depend on us because we know that our direct opponent (Orlando Pirates) will play matches until the end of the month. It allows them to play their final matches after ours,” Cardoso said following Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Chippa United at Loftus Versfeld. 

“In terms of the sporting question, it’s (the league race) not beautiful, and it should not happen like that. Every team should finish at the same time, but we need to focus on the next match. 

“We need to fight to win and collect three points and see what happens because our challengers (Pirates) will not play in the league. They have the Nedbank Cup final and we play again on Wednesday (against Chippa United).”

Assuming that Pirates win all their remaining games, Sundowns would require four more points from their final three fixtures to mathematically secure the league crown.

Cardoso ‘won’t’ allow Sundowns to celebrate

Cardoso maintains that the champagne will be kept on ice until they have wrapped up the championship. 

“We have respect for what we have ahead and have a match against Stellenbosch FC, who are always a difficult team to play against,” he added. 

“We have to play Chippa United again, and then Magesi at home. Sundowns have big respect for the competition and will try our best to collect as many points as possible. 

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“When it’s mathematically done, we can start thinking about celebrating but for now I will not allow anyone to do that. We just celebrated today’s victory (against Chippa) and nothing more. After this, we’ll go for the next one.”