Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi admits that many things weren’t going right for them in their defeat to Polokwane City.

The Brazilians suffered their first defeat in the Betway Premiership following their 1-0 loss to Rise and Shine through an 82nd minute goal from Bulelani Nikani at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.

The defeat saw Sundowns drop down to second place on the table, with 12 points from their first five matches.

Mngqithi felt that things did not go as planned for them but praised his opponents for their efforts.

“First half was horrible, our first-half we were just nowhere. The final third we could not play any combinations, we did get into the final third several times, maybe a better decision from Tash, a better decision from Iqraam, maybe if we don’t lose the ball,” Mngqithi told SuperSport TV after the game.

“Maybe when we got it to Iqraam’s [Rayners] feet, which resulted in a counter-attack but those moments when you don’t translate them into chances, which almost similar thing that happened midweek.

“We had the same scenario against Royal AM, where we got into the final third but it didn’t yield anything. If you look at the pass Tiwani made for Iqraam, you expect Iqraam to receive that ball and finish it and on the day it was just not to be.

“And you must congratulate the opponent, they fought, they were strong and we always knew they are stronger on set-pieces, which is why we also tried to load ourselves with aerially strong players so we’re able to deal with them.

“But I think we were caught in a game where I don’t think many things were going right for us because we had almost all our best players on the day but unfortunately the result was not to be. And we knew it was not going to be easy, we never took it for granted, because we know they are a team that always gives us a lot of trouble,” he concluded.