Iqraam Rayners scored the only goal of the game at Loftus Versfeld after 69 minutes as he headed home a pin-point cross from Antonio van Wyk.
The other quarterfinals see Kaizer Chiefs take on Siwelele, Orlando Pirates host Sekhukhune United and Stellenbosch take on AmaZulu.
Reflecting on the result, Cardoso admitted that Arrows pushed them all the way with some solid defending that needed a special goal to break down.
He said on SuperSport: "Of course, not many goals and when there's not many goals it seems that the game is not as. But it was, it was a very tactical match," said Cardoso in the post-match reaction on SuperSport TV.
"It had a lot of intensity, with a lot of difficulties to break that defensive structure of Golden Arrows.
"We played them, we knew that it was important to have a lot of players outside to shift the game from one side to the other, make them go across to one side to the other and try from there to penetrate.
"I think we could have scored even in the first half and take the lead. But yeah, the team was focused, kept the stability on the behaviours and naturally the things happened, so congratulations for the boys."
Sundowns are next in action against USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup on Sunday, 8 November.
Ronwen Williams and Teboho Mokoena remain injury doubts for Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso ahead of the CAF Super Cup final clash against USM Alger at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
Iqraam Rayners netted the only goal of the game as Mamelodi Sundowns booked their place in the semi-finals of the Carling Knockout Cup after beating Golden Arrows 1-0 at Loftus on Tuesday.
Rushine De Reuck has reflected on his time at Mamelodi Sundowns after scoring for Simba SC in their 3-2 Tanzanian Premier League comeback win over Namungo on Monday.
Mamelodi Sundowns striker Iqraam Rayners says his side are confident of securing their place in the semi-finals of the Carling Knockout Cup.
