After narrowly losing 1-0 to the Brazilians just days earlier, Rise and Shine showed flashes of promise but failed to capitalise on key moments, allowing Sundowns to punish their mistakes as the hosts won the tie 3-0 at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday
The Limpopo outfit created several scoring opportunities, including a second-half penalty that Puleng Marema failed to convert, while another clear one-on-one chance went begging as they struggled to keep composure in front of goal.
"Bad decisions, both on the bench and on the field. I think it should've ended 2-2 if not 3-2, but we got an opportunity to score from the spot we missed and we got another opportunity to score and we go wide one-v-one with the keeper," Mohafe told SuperSport TV after the game.
"But I think the boys panicked, he is still young, he will learn from the mistake, and I think the shape that we have lost is the one that determines the score.
"We lost the shape in the middle, we couldn't contain them because we wanted to equalise to 1-1, but we didn't realise we breaking our shape in the middle.
"But it's another lesson learned and learned the hard way so we were just not on it after making the substitutions for Maphangule, I think it's the one that killed us, but we learnt the hard way."
Polokwane City head coach Phuti Mohafe has taken a firm stance on accountability, making an example of Puleng Marema after the veteran striker's costly penalty miss against Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso was full of praise for Teboho Mokoena following his standout man-of-the-match display in their victory over Polokwane City at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday.
Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Polokwane City 3-0 to extend their lead at the top of the Betway Premiership table to five points with three games remaining.
Polokwane City coach Phuti Mohafe admits it is far from ideal to have to play Betway Premiership title chasers Mamelodi Sundowns twice in the space of a week.
