Orlando Pirates head coach Augusto Palacios was too "heartbroken" to come out for the last eight minutes when they were thumped 6-0 by Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Stadium at the weekend.

Play was halted with eight minutes remaining following crowd violence. As a result, the players and officials from the respective clubs were forced off the field.

The match later resumed when the situation was calm, but Palacios was not able to come back to finish the match. He also missed the post-match press conference.

Bucs assistant coach Benson Mhlongo explained that Palacios, 65, had taken the defeat to heart and couldn't watch any more.

"He is not feeling well. He takes defeat to heart," said Mhlongo.

He said that there was no need to point fingers, especially at the players.

"Look, we can't blame the boys when one side is good on the day. Sundowns were good on the day and deserved to win," he said.

In fact, the former Pirates midfielder praised the players for coming out to try get a goal with eight minutes remaining.

"I'm proud of them to come out after such a tragic moment whereby we have supporters fighting, and losing by six goals. It is heads up to them. At least they are man enough to stand up for what's happening."

Pirates' technical team may have erred by playing James Okwuosa and Marc van Heerden against arguably the PSL's best attacking team, especially as the duo are still new to the side.

Happy Jele and Thembela Sikhakhane, who had started in the previous match against Platinum Stars, which ended goalless, were dropped to the bench in favour of the former Chippa United pair. The move backfired.

"I cannot say much. We thought Van Heerden has more quality than Sikhakhane. We say sorry. What else can we say? We can say sorry by mouth, but the next game should say sorry to them by winning it," added Mhlongo.