Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Tiyani Mabunda insists they used their experience to beat fourth-tier side Vaal University of Technology on Sunday.

The Tshwane giants advanced to the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals after beating VUT 2-0 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium after Wayne Arendse and Phakamani Mahlambi found the back of the net in the second half.

‘Today’s game was a very tactical one, we had to use our experience. It was never going to be easy, you can see this team has built confidence. After playing their first game, they believed they can go all the way,’ Mabunda told SuperSport TV post-game.

‘We as Mamelodi Sundowns know that it’s never going to be easy for us, everybody that plays against Mamelodi Sundowns wants to showcase their talent, want to showcase that they can beat us.

‘It was the instruction from the coach that we should respect the badge, the badge of Mamelodi Sundowns comes first, we make sure that we play to the best our abilities, make sure that we get the team to the next round and I’m really grateful that today we managed.’

Mabunda admits they did not struggle in the first half as they were preserving their energy to come out strong in the second half, despite going into the break goalless.

‘It’s not a matter of struggling, they know our style of play. We had to manage and make sure that we don’t lose concentration. We knew that it may not come in the first half, it may not come in the first five minutes. But we needed to keep on playing, keep pushing the ball around, making sure that we sucked the energy out of their legs,’ he added.

‘And the more we moved the ball around, in the second half you could see that they were started to slow down and that’s where we got our opportunities, so we had to change the gear in the second half and make sure that we get the goals and I’m happy that we got them.’