Arthur Sales' 61st minute goal was all that separated the two teams at Loftus Versfeld, but it was enough to secure the Brazilians their seventh league win of the season.
They currently sit three points clear of Orlando Pirates at the top of the standings, but from two games more, and having also drawn four games, while losing once, to Manqoba Mngqithi's Golden Arrows in September.
Reflecting on the Rockets win, Cardoso said on IOL: "It's important to say that it was a very important victory against a team that is well organised.
"They have very difficult players to play against in terms of their speed in their transition; they have been creating problems for almost all the teams they play against.
"They are coached by someone that knows what they are doing. This is the third time I am playing against them, and they have been hard to beat."
Cardoso explained the changes he made to engineer the win, with Sales coming off the bench to score.
"We made a lot of technical changes on the pitch to try and create spaces and break their defensive line, which sometimes was four or six players, but we managed to find a way to score," he added.
Sundowns are only in action again, against Polokwane City on November 23rd, after their Carling Knockout quarter-final exit at the hands of Marumo Gallants.
Looking ahead, Cardoso explained that his side are in the right frame of mind to put their early season form behind them.
“I am not happy with the points we have currently, but that is something that comes from the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, we lost points in matches that we should have won,” he said.
“What we want is to be strong and have an attitude that no one can break. We need to accumulate points because we lost them where we shouldn't have.”
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