Leal takes blame for City loss

Cape Town - Polokwane City coach Julio Leal shouldered the blame after relinquishing the lead to lose 2-1 to Golden Arrows at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

Rise and Shine went ahead in the seventh minute through a Thobani Mncwango goal, but Gladwin Shitolo and Rodney Ramagalela scored for Arrows in the comeback.

It was the first game on the bench for Brazilian-born Leal after receiving his work permit last week, three months after signing with Polokwane.

"We had a good first half and started well, scored the goal and created opportunities," said Leal.

"But we then lost control of the game, giving the opponents the counter-attack and cross to get the equalizer.

"In the second half we tried to improve our potential in attack but we lost the shape a little bit, which allowed the opponent to get the winning goal.

"We needed to put in a third striker, and we lost a little bit in the midfield, and the opponent could counter-attack and scored the winning goal.

"As the coach, I am responsible; I made the changes. We tried our best but at this point in time we did not get the result we expected."