Kaizer Chiefs showed we are a big team - Khalil Ben Youssef

Chiefs visited Sundowns with major interest from their Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates, who would have been satisfied with the 1-1 draw that pegged the log leaders back in the title race.

While Cardoso lamented Amakhosi's ultra-physical approach, Ben Youssef argued that they showed clear intention to compete and come out victorious on the night.

"I think it was a good game from our side, the plan of the game was clear from the beginning that we are coming here not just to defend but to play our football and we're coming here to come back with three points," said Ben Youssef.

"I thought we managed the first half very well, and we scored the first goal. I'm not happy about how we started the second half, we weren't more focussed on the game.

"In the second half, we lost possession a lot and we conceded the goal around 55 minutes, and then I think after the red card [to Sundowns], we were dominating the game and created a lot of opportunities.

"We were unlucky not to score - Vilakazi, Velebayi, Lilepo all got a chance to score but they were unlucky not to score, and like I said, I'm happy about the performance of the players, the strong mentality shown in this game.

"Because before this game there was a lot of noise outside, from people discussing this game, but we showed that we are a big team, we are Kaizer Chiefs and we don't came just to jog, we come to win and compete in every game.

"Like we played the Derby, we played this game, and every game we play to win, and every game we want to come back with three points."

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The Tunisian tactician also confirmed that winger Mduduzi Shabalala had to be rushed to hospital with a dislocated shoulder, which resulted in Sundowns being reduced to 10 men with Jayden Adams being sent off for a second bookable offence.

"I hope that Shabalala will be back as soon as possible, unfortunately he got a big injury, his [shoulder] is fractured and I hope that he will be ready again soon because this player was fighting to be part of Bafana Bafana and the FIFA World Cup," added Ben Youssef.

"And as you know, we have to protect our young players because football is not like that – you can't expect this kind of challenge and give only a yellow card, it's not like that, you have to protect the players.

"Now we've lost Shabalala and we were close to also losing Sirino, it was the same challenge that hurt Shabalala, so we have to protect our players from these kinds of challenges."