A fourth minute goal and a penalty just minutes before the break, both from Bongi Ntuli saw AmaZulu secure a win in the Durban Derby this afternoon.
Usuthu opened the scoring as Ntuli was put through after a turn over ball flicked through by Morton. He slipped between our defence and kept the ball low to beat Mbaeva and take an early lead.
The home side dominated play for the next 15 minutes, not allowing us much time on the ball or opportunity to create any plays.
We seemed to spring back though and had a great chance, but the strike from Lunga went just wide off the target. This seemed to give us some headway onto the game again though as we chased the equaliser going into the break.
Lamola had an opportunity to score off a through-ball from Lunga but put the effort over the cross bars.
Into the second minute of extra time, Victor Gomes awarded Amazulu a penalty after Mnagengwe took down Ntuli in the box.
Ntuli took the shot from the mark and sent Mabeva the wrong way , securing his brace and giving the home side a 2-0 lead going into the break.
This set the tone for the second half that saw both sides going at each other for goals.
Amazulu had a number of chances in the second half but were denied by Mbaeva or their attempts not being on target.
We continued to fight back and created a number of decent chances but were unable to break the Usuthu defence.
We go into the festive break with the knowledge that we will have to prepare for another Derby in the new year as we face Maritzburg United at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium January 6th.
