Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has defended his team and says he will not use “injuries” as an excuse for their defeat to Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup final.

The Buccaneers have now retained their Nedbank Cup crown following their 2-1 win over Sundowns at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening.

Themba Zwane opened the scoring for the Brazilians in the 54th minute before a 71st minute penalty by Patrick Maswanganyi and a stoppage time goal from Relebohile Mofokeng handed Pirates the win.

Mokwena has expressed his thoughts on the game and justified that he had multiple players on the injury list after a “long season”.

“Ja well it’s wear and tear, it’s been a long season, a lot of games but okay… I mean I don’t know how we lost this match honestly and I don’t wanna use injuries as an excuse, because we should have won the game. Only one team on the pitch but anyway, it’s football isn’t it?” Mokwena asked.

“He’s (Costa) injured, he gets clattered, ‘Sailor’ (Mudau) was clattered but anyway, congratulations to Pirates, it’s football.”

Photo by Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix