Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane believes Orlando Pirates were ‘fresher’ for their clash at Loftus Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Brazilians remain top of the Absa Premiership standings with a three-point lead over second place Free State Stars, despite falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Pirates.

Mosimane also believes the Man of the Man award should have been given to Luvoyo Memela in instead of goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane.

‘Today I’m happy that they [the players] can sing with the supporters. The last time I was not happy because we had lost but today they tried. They gave everything. This is good for football,’ Mosimane said to SuperSport TV.

‘I’m not happy with the Man of the Match. I don’t know who chooses Man of the Match. My Man of the Match is Memela. The guy [Jackson Mabokgwane] sleeps on the floor all the time. He stopped the game for about five times and then he wins Man of the Match? I don’t know who chooses the Man of the Match at SuperSport. It’s disappointing. That’s my opinion. But I’m happy to be wrong.

‘Coming to the game very good game it came out as expected. A lot of transitions. We dealt well with that to be honest. We knew they were going to catch us on breaks but we dealt with them. We should have scored, had [Anthony] Laffor scored it could have been different. But football is not about the ifs and had-you. We showed who we are. We play at home the integrity was there. So we have to accept,’ he added.

‘I think the refereeing was good. On Percy [Tau] I think they gave a yellow card because somebody was maybe covering but I think it’s a red [card] because Percy was going straight at the goals. So I don’t know we’ll see.

‘We played well. The second goal you have to accept we are a team that plays from the back like all these other big teams you have to start the ball from the back. So you’re going to pay a heavy price when you do that so you can’t change and kick the ball forward because of that goal. It’s in the budget.

‘Pirates were fresher. They rested for seven days to come play us. We come from Ajax [on Tuesday] and it’s hot. It’s not an excuse it’s a fact. It’s okay,’ Mosimane concluded.