Durban City coach Pitso Dladla defends tactics following narrow Sundowns defeat

Katlego Ntsabeleng scored the only goal of the game at Chatsworth Stadium after just nine minutes.

The Citizens were keeping all eleven players behind the ball in the first half but switched up their approach to be more attacking after the break and were far more competitive.

Speaking after the game, Dladla explained his decision to ultimately make the change after conceding early.

"We wanted to keep the game at 0-0 until half-time and that is why we started the way we did," said the head coach.

"I know some people will say maybe we should have started the same way as we ended, but we would not have had the legs to finish in the manner we did.

"It is always the challenge you face as a technical team when you discuss games of this magnitude. We agreed that we should sit back and absorb pressure in the first half and, in the second half, we would try to have a go at them," explained Dladla.

"At half-time we said to the guys that we were unlucky not to have got an equaliser, so we told them: 'Guys, now we are no longer holding back; we are engaging'."