Kaizer Chiefs suffered a heavy defeat as they fell on the wrong side of the 4-0 scoreline away to AmaZulu in the DStv Premiership at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Friday night.
Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Dumisani Zuma scored against their former employers while the third goal was netted by the new signing Junior Dion. Bongi Ntuli got the fourth in the second half.
Amakhosi made three changes from their previous match’s line up with Happy Mashiane, Mduduzi Shabalala, and Ashley Du Preez coming on for Sfiso Hlanti, Keagan Dolly, and Kamohelo Mahlatsi.
Meanwhile, Usuthu made three, with Mbongeni Gumede, Tercious Malepe, Larry Bwalya, and Gabadinho Mhango taken off for Abbubaker Mobara, George Maluleka, Thabo Qalinge, and Dumisani Zuma.
Both teams were up against each other coming off league defeats as AmaZulu lost to Royal AM while Chiefs were defeated by Sekhukhune United.
In the opening minutes, AmaZulu came close to finding an opening goal as Thabo Qalinge cut in from the right and unleashed a curling shot which was parried away by Itumeleng Khune.
ZUMA AND MPHAHLELE HAUNT EX-CLUB CHIEFS
Later, Amakhosi started launching attacks and were looking deadly in front of the hosts’ goal. However, in the 14th minute, they were made to rue the missed opportunities as AmaZulu took the lead when Dumisani Zuma headed home from a corner kick.
After a minute, the Glamour Boys were awarded a penalty as Du Preez was brought down inside the box after he broke away following the restart. Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana stepped up and wasted the opportunity with Veli Mothwa denying him from the spot.
Arthur Zwane’s men tried to come back into the game, playing in the half of Usuthu but found it hard to dismantle their defence.
In the 37th minute, Ramahlwe Mphahlele scored the second goal for AmaZulu after he was nicely located by George Maluleka from the corner spot.
DION SCORES FIRST GOAL IN AMAZULU COLOURS
On the stroke of halftime, Junior Dion added the third goal for Usuthu, exploiting a poor back pass from Dove Edmilson to Khune who failed to clear and it remained 3-0 at halftime.
Both sides started the second half with confidence as a lot of action was being produced at both ends.
In the 52nd minute, Zwane made his first attack-minded change, bringing on Kgaogelo Sekgota in the place of Shabalala. Moments later, Folz introduced Msindisi Ndlovu when he took off Thabo Qalinge.
Later, there was little to separate the two sides as they kept on exchanging jabs in the midfield. Chiefs tried to regain possession but had difficulty progressing the ball up the field.
With around 20 minutes left on the clock, the visitors were dominating the ball trying to make their way into AmaZulu’s half, however, the opposition’s defence remained resolute. In the 76th minute, Mothwa made a fine save, denying Sekgota from pulling one back for the visitors.
NTULI’S SUCKER PUNCH
Chiefs were kept napping when Bonginkosi Ntuli broke away and rounded Khune to tap into an empty net and Folz’s troops went on to grab maximum points.
With this triumph, AmaZulu climbed up to the fifth position on the log standings while Chiefs remained in fourth place.
RELATED STORY: Ekstein reflects on training with AmaZulu reserve team for six months
