Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso was delighted to see his side record a comfortable 3-0 Betway Premiership win over Richards Bay on Wednesday.
Arthur Sales opened the scoring at Loftus Stadium after just eight minutes and Iqraam Rayners doubled the lead with his header with 28 minutes played.
Marcelo Allende then secured the result his smart finish with three second-half minutes played.
The result saw Sundowns move 12 points clear of second-placed Orlando Pirates, who lost 1-0 to Sekhukhune United.
Speaking after the game, Cardoso explained that despite the scoreline, his side had to work hard for the result after only having just returned from a successful trip to Egypt where they secured their place in the final of the CAF Champions League.
He said on SuperSport: ‘It was one more difficult game despite how it looked.
“We made it more easy than it would have been if we had not had the right attitude.
“What marked the game is the way we started with a strong intention to score. That is basically what we asked the boys for. We provoked them to ask if they were ready for the challenge of putting in a very strong first half.”
Cardoso added: “We need to get an emotional advantage by scoring and making the result positive so we didn’t need to leave it to the last part of the match.”
And commenting on Pirates’ loss, the Sundowns boss said: “Our opponent will not give up and we need points and more points. If we enlarged our advantage it is more comfortable but it takes nothing away from what we have to do.”