Rulani Mokwena at a loss to explain Nedbank Cup defeat

The Buccaneers ran out 2-1 winners on Saturday to deny their Tshwane rivals a trophy for the second time this season.

Mokwena admitted their superior performance wasn’t enough to get them over the line.

"It's one I really cannot find words to explain. I thought we started very, very well in fact I thought we played well overall and we got the penalty from a clear decision. I've just watched all the key decisions and then we didn’t score that. Then the game drags a little bit for 0-0 until half time but still again, still very, very comfortable. So much control, in fact I think one of our better performances this season," Mokwena said.

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Sundowns could have taken an early lead in the first half, but striker Lucas Ribeiro had his penalty saved by goalkeeper Sipho Chaine.

Mokwena felt it was one of several crucial moments in the match.

"And to dominate a game like, a cup final like that against a very strong team like Orlando Pirates and then not to win is bittersweet because you look at the performance, you know you deserve better but like I said to the players, even in my team talk, cup finals are not there to be played, they are there to be won. Of course, I think some of the key moments in the game didn't go for us, the penalty we missed," the coach explained.

Mokwena weighed in on the penalty awarded to Pirates and scored by Patrick Maswanganyi to draw them level before Relebohile Mofokeng went on to find the winning goal.

"I just saw the penalty they got given; I thought Tito actually fouls Aubrey Modiba to be honest. I watched it again and again and I think it's actually a foul for Sundowns and it should be going the other way and I'm not so sure about the foul on Marcelo Allende because there were two or three incidents where similar situations happened,” he said.

“For Bongani Zungu and for Mosa [Lebusa] and actually the foul was given the other direction but cup finals are like that. Games like this are about small details and moments and unfortunately, the moments in the 90 minutes today, didn't go for us."