Royal AM head coach John Maduka says his side struggled to deal with Mamelodi Sundowns in the midfield battle.
The KwaZulu-Natal side's six-game unbeaten run across all competitions came to an end after losing 5-1 to the league leaders on Tuesday night.
Maduka felt it could have been a different game had they taken their earlier chances in the first half.
Royal AM head coach John Maduka says his side struggled to deal with Mamelodi Sundowns in the midfield battle.
"We started the game very well and even in those moments if we're clinical enough, I think we would have been 2-0 up," Maduka told SuperSport after the game.
"And after that maybe we thought the game is going to be easy and we started to give them space and time on the ball and we know with the quality that they have, give them time and space, they will hurt you and exactly what happened.
"We conceded a goal that we're not supposed to concede. We have numerical advantage but we allowed them to combine and be able to get that goal, we were slow in defence.
"The second goal again, a back pass, a miscommunication, we conceded. Teams like Sundowns, they wait for you to make mistakes and with the quality that they have, you make a mistake they punish you and exactly that happened," he went on.
"We struggled to deal with them especially in midfield and defence and we could not push high and as a result we allowed them to come in our area, that is in our defensive zone.
"And immediately you allow them in the defensive zone, you're allowing them to take shots and because of their intelligence, the players that they have, they can be able to open spaces and create many chances and exactly that happened and that's why we ended up conceding so many goals.
"We cannot be judged on one performance, we're playing against the champions, there are so many things, our players learn so many things, going forward we know where to fix and comes through in the next game.
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