Mokwena makes 'no excuses' after Stellies stun Sundowns in Nedbank Cup: 'They were better'

At Athlone Stadium, Cape Town

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach, Rhulani Mokwena, accepted their Nedbank Cup defeat to Stellenbosch with "a lot of grace and humility" and conceded that the better team won at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.

The Brazilians were seeking to end a streak of four draws in five matches since being confirmed DStv Premiership champions at the start of April, but the Cape Winelands outfit had other ideas on the day.

READ | Nedbank Cup: Sizzling Stellenbosch end Sundowns' treble-winning dreams, Pirates push past Dondol

Downs took the lead courtesy of Aubrey Modiba's vicious strike that fortuitously hit the upright and bounced off the back of veteran goalkeeper Lee Langerveldt to land beyond the goal line, opening the scoring.

It was a lead that took the Brazilians into half-time, but three minutes into the second half, Stellies shifted into fourth gear, and Iqraam Rayners dazzled his way past yellow shirts to level the score.

The 27-year-old completed his brace nine minutes later with a brilliant finish as Stellies put in a commanding second-half display, ending Sundowns' hopes of winning a treble of trophies as they continue to hunt for CAF Champions League honours.

“Congratulations to Stellenbosch. In sport, when the opposition is better than you, with a lot of humility and grace, you accept the result and move on. For most parts of the game, I thought they were better,” a dejected Mokwena told reporters at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.

"We lost a lot of the duels, and it was just very difficult [for us] to find a bit of rhythm in our passes. They forced us into mistakes, and we made two big mistakes, and they punished us."

But despite the defeat, Mokwena remains "proud" of his players and what they have