A derby played after an embarrassing defeat by VUT in the NEDBANK Cup. The match was meant to be a response match where we needed to redeem ourselves after a poor knockout competition performance. The opponent was fighting for their lives and it showed in the physical nature of the match. We controlled the first half very well and using the whole field in an attempt to find penetration. We played lots of combinations in the middle trying to play through, we would go wide when central options were limited. Each time we overloaded to isolate, we succeeded but only lacked the final penetration by crossing well or playing a cutback. We created a great scoring chance after a great central combination but we were wrongfully ruled offside. The opponent had no answered to our use of the ball and instead opted to kicking our players. We lost Gumede as a result and introduced Lamola. The first half ended 0:0 even though we deserved a lead.
We resumed the second but had a poor start as we saw the opponent hit the cross bar after Dube lost possession in our half. We then picked our game and it wasn’t long and we got our rhythm back again. We had an opportunity to win a penalty when the referee denied Mutizwa a foul after being fouled in the box. In no time, Lamola was fouled in the box on the 67th minute and the referee gave us a penalty and we made it 0:1 via Mutizwa. In the 80th minute Sithebe brought AmaZulu back into the game with the equaliser after firing a low strike into the bottom corner in a scramble inside the box from a corner-kick. Another beautiful passage of play ensured as we played short inter passes in the Centre and unlocked the opponent before Mutizwa got us a winning goal and his second for the night. The match ended 1:2 to us and we collected 3 points and reached the magical 30 points mark with nine matches to play. Our next encounter is Highlands Park at home in two weeks.
