Head coach Rulani Mokwena has explained why he believes the decision to award Orlando Pirates a penalty for a foul on Patrick Maswanganyi was an incorrect call from the match official.
Sundowns were denied a third trophy of the season by rivals The Buccaneers, who successfully defended the Nedbank Cup title with a 2-1 victory over The Brazilians on Saturday at Mbombela Stadium.
Goals came from Themba Zwane who opened the scoring early in the second-half before Pirates equalized through Maswanganyi, when he was adjudged to have been fouled inside the area by Sundowns' Aubrey Modiba.
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'Tito' stepped up himself to take the spot kick and sent Ronwen Williams the wrong way to bring The Soweto giants back into the match.
Rising star Relebohile Mofokeng scored the winner for Pirates in added time.
PENALTY TO PIRATES!!!So so clever from Patrick Maswanganyi! pic.twitter.com/bm0ENSuDwd
— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e_) June 1, 2024
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Mokwena shared his perspective on the adjudged foul and admitted that Modiba could have handled the situation better.
"I just saw the penalty that got given, I thought Tito (Maswanganyi) fouls Modiba, to be honest. I watched it again and again and I think it's actually a foul for Sundowns and should be going the other way," Mokwena said.
"But cup finals are like that and are about moments. Unfortunately, the moments during the 90 minutes didn't go for us. So you have to congratulate the winners Orlando Pirates and be gracious in defeat.
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"It's going to sound like excuses [to complain about the officiating], I looked the penalty that they got and really, Tito is not even looking at the ball.
"He (Maswanganyi) moves his back and he slides into Modiba. Modiba could have done better in that situation, maybe anticipated better and not gone tight. If you read the body language of Maswanganyi, it's not even to go in to compete for a duel.
"It's a very difficult ball, it's coming at high speed, so maybe allow him to receive first and keep your position and then apply pressure and force him a little bit back.
"But it's football, these things happen. But we lose games with these things that happen.
"But it is what it is. You can't say we didn't play well, you can't say we didn't deserve to win."
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