Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena says his side got their tactics spot-on in their CAF Champions League defeat of Pyramids on Tuesday.
The Brazilians had started their group stage in fine form with a 3-0 defeat of Mauritanian side Nouadhibou.
They then lost 1-0 to TP Mazembe ahead of a goalless home draw with Pyramids.
But on Tuesday, Mokwena’s side secured a 1-0 victory with Teboho Mokoena netting the only goal at the 30 June Stadium.
Sundowns are now on seven points at the top of Group A, ahead of TP Mazembe on goal-difference.
Speaking after their midweek game, Mokwena explained that Sundowns were able to adapt to their opponents’ playing style to win the tie.
He said on iDiski Times: “We are football romantics, we love football but we also understand that in the game of football you have to answer what the game asks of you.
“If the game asks you to counterattack, you’ve got to counterattack, we don’t play for that. if the game asks you to suffer and absorb, we have to suffer and absorb pressure but we don’t play for that.
“For majority of the game we had some good moments where we dominated possession and that’s not always easy in the Champions League, so we had to play and answer that – that’s the modern game at the moment.
“If you look at the modern game, the best teams in the world…what makes Manchester City a difficult team to beat, because they work very, very hard when they don’t have the ball. What makes Arsenal at the moment probably the best team in the English Premier League is that they work very, very hard when they don’t have the ball.
“And that’s where the modern game is – answer the questions that the game asks you. If the game asks you to win from set pieces, you have to win on set pieces, that’s what football is.”
Sundowns next face Cape Town City in the DStv Premiership on Sunday.