Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has conceded that his charges did not show up against SuperSport United in the second leg of their MTN8 semi-final.
The Brazilians conceded an early goal at the hands of Teboho Mokoena before they suffered a sucker-punch late when Jamie Webber found the back of the net to seal SuperSport's spot in the final.
READ: SuperSport pip Downs to MTN8 final
"Firstly, I need to congratulate the referee, he picked up in the second half. He did well. OK, there are those little things that we as coaches are not happy with but not major. He's one of the younger ones, coming up," Mosimane told SuperSport TV..
"[I also want] to congratulate Kaitano [Tembo], his tactics were very good, spot on. Very awkward for us to get what we want. I think what helped them is that they got an early goal, which we did not want at that time. After that it was a difficult game for the last 70 minutes," he continued.
"The second goal came, it's normal because we are pushing up we want to equalise. You'll always get a counter-attack like that. They played very well, they are a difficult team to play against to be honest. You have to understand that.
"They play differently, they are awkward balls fall for them. It's one of those, what are you gonna do? We should understand that we can't win all the games also. We played OK in the second half, [although] we could have done better. First half we didn't create many chances. I thought [in the second-half] to freshen the team, let me put on Lebohang [Maboe] and 'Vila' [Sibusiso Vilakazi] but we did not turn up in the first half. A lot of the guys did not turn up, its okay, it's a cup game, sometimes you gonna lose."
Mosimane went on to say that SuperSport deserved their victory and hopes Kaitano Tembo wins his maiden trophy in the final against Highlands Park
"We should give credit, they deserve it. I hope Kaitano goes on to win it. He deserves it. He deserves a break, it's going to be his first one. Why not? Everybody deserves a break, so I hope he gets it [the cup]," he said.