Samkele Sihlali of Marumo Gallants challenged by Thabo Cele of Mamelodi Sundowns during their Carling Knockout Cup last 16 match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso breathed a huge sigh of relief at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night after his side ground out a scrappy 1-0 win over lowly Marumo Gallants to reach the Carling Knockout quarter-finals.

The result provided some much needed respite for the Tshwane giants following their shock preliminary-round elimination from the CAF Champions League on Friday, where a 1-1 draw against Angola’s Wiliete SC abruptly ended their title defence.

Though Sundowns had already lifted both the MTN8 and the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup this season, reclaiming the continental crown was their primary objective, leaving the squad reeling from the heartbreak.

Cardoso made no excuses for the lack of rhythm against Gallants, acknowledging that emotional fatigue and necessary squad rotation took a heavy toll on their trademark fluid style.

"We started well, but then we also made life difficult for ourselves," Cardoso admitted. "But I hope people understand what it is to play a match after an emotional moment we lived together. In one match we played much better, but we didn’t win and we got knocked out of the Champions League.

"I recognise that it was not a fantastic match (on Tuesday night), but it was proof of character that we have to win a match, close it and move forward."

Siyanda Ndlovu’s 20th-minute finish ultimately separated the two teams, but the disjointed first-half display forced Cardoso to summon some of his usual suspects from the bench at the break, introducing Aubrey Modiba and Marcelo Allende to restore control.

"It is a very difficult and emotional moment we lived through, but it is an important victory to move forward," explained the coach.

"When you live that moment, you have to make changes and then you don’t have a lot of important players on the pitch, and obviously the fluidity doesn’t appear."

Despite the lack of sparkle, Cardoso took comfort in his side’s grit: "I was worried that my team will not fight, but they fought and they understood. What is important was to get stability and move forward."